The Way Home
by Carbo4ever
Summary: "Home is where you go to find solace from the ever changing chaos, to find love within the confines of a heartless world, and to be reminded that no matter how far you wander, there will always be something waiting when you return." ― Kendal Rob
1. Chapter 1

Set up: It is late Summer 2009. Hope has walked out on Bo again. Bo tired of her temper tantrums and general behavior has filed for divorce and of course now Hope wants him back. His family is completely supportive of his decision to end the marriage. He is at the moment staying at a hotel until he can find his own place. Carly is not in Salem. She has not killed Lawrence and in my world she has never met Daniel much less slept with him. I have no summary for the story cause I really am not good with them and well don't want things to be too obvious or I could actually be writing like Dena Higley (*shudders at the thought*) Don't know how long this one will be or how pervy so just go with it. And hope you enjoy. this 1st post is a short teaser smiley: wink and here we go.

Hope opened the door to a messenger standing there. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"I have a delivery for a Mr. Bo Brady."

"He isn't here right now. I'm his wife, I'll sign for it." Hope said reaching for what looked like a letter and the clipboard to sign for it.

The messenger pulled it out of her reach and replied, "I'm sorry but I have specific orders. This is to be delivered and signed for by Mr. Brady. I have been instructed that I must put it in his hands and no one else's."

Hope rolled her eyes impatiently. "Well then you will have to stand there until he comes back or you will have to let me sign for it because he isn't here." Her curiosity was about to boil over. Who would send Bo a letter that only he could sign for. She didn't bother to tell the messenger that Bo had moved out and they were in the middle of a divorce.

"Then I will stand here and wait for Mr. Brady." The messenger said stubbornly.

"Fine," Hope replied, hiding her disappointment as she closed the door. She walked over to the table and picked up her cell phone. "Bo, there is a msger here and will only give his delivery to you. Please come by and get whatever it is." Hope hit send. She couldn't very well leave the messenger standing on her porch all night.

It was about an hour later when Hope heard a car pull up in front of the house. She put her book down and went to the front door and opened it just as Bo reached the porch and stopped in front of the messenger.

"Mr. Brady?"

"Yes. She sent me a message saying I had a delivery." Bo said gesturing towards his soon-to-be ex-wife.

"Yes Sir. But before I give it to you and have you sign may I ask to see some identification."

Bo gave the young man a strange look as he pulled out his wallet and showed his ID.

"Thank you, Sir." The young man said with a relieved sigh. "It's just that I was expressly ordered to hand this to you and ONLY you."

Bo took the clipboard and the pen that the guy was holding out and signed on the line by his name. When he handed them back to the messenger he was handed a single white envelope that only had his name printed in block letters on the front.

"Have a good day sir, ma'am." The messenger said nodding his head at Bo and then Hope before turning and walking to his car.

"What was all that about?" Hope wondered out loud as Bo just shook his head. "Do you want a cup of coffee?" Hope asked in an effort to get Bo into the house. She really wanted him to open that envelope so she could see what was in it. She also thought that if she could get Bo in the house then maybe she could change his mind about the divorce.

Bo looked at her and knew why she wanted him to come into the house. He also knew she would be dying of curiosity about whatever it was he was holding in his hand and somewhere inside him he knew he shouldn't let her see it.

"No thanks. I really have to get back to work." He watched as her face fell and saw her eyes dart towards the envelope in his right hand. "See Ya."

Hope watched as Bo walked back to his car and then drove away. "Damn!" She said to herself as she went back inside.

Bo walked into the dark room closing the door behind him. Using his flashlight to navigate the room he made his way to the small scrubbed table and lit the little oil lamp sitting on it. He didn't know what made him think to come here of all places to read whatever was in that envelope. He just knew he had to be completely alone when he did read it. He pulled the envelope out of the inside pocket of his dress jacket. He hated wearing suits and ties, but as police commissioner he had to look the part and he had been in a meeting when Hope texted him. Slowly and with trepidation Bo slid his finger under the seal of the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of expensive heavy cream colored linen paper that was folded in three like a business letter.

Bo's breath caught in his throat as he saw the handwriting on the letter. He recognized it immediately. He would have recognized that handwriting anywhere. As his eyes scanned the letter he became angrier and angrier. He had to read it several times because his brain couldn't seem to process the contents of the letter. After sitting for about an hour and reading the letter over and over until it was burned into his memory, Bo knew he had to do something. He had to right the wrongs. He had to take action. After sitting in the silence and thinking for about another hour, Bo had formulated a plan but knew he would need help and he knew whose help he needed. He pulled out his cell phone and hit the number three on his speed dial.

"Hey man it's me. Listen I need your help."

Bo listened a moment to what the person on the other end of the line said.

"This is important. Can you meet me in my office?"

"Thanks, man. I'll be there in about an hour. Bye."

Bo hung up and then dialed again and proceeded to have the same conversation six more times. Of the seven people he spoke to three of them were in town and would meet him in his office and the other four would be on conference call to help. He had read the letter to those four out of town and they were all more than happy to help. Two of them offered to bankroll the entire endeavor. Bo picked up his flashlight again, blew out the oil lamp and made his way out of the room and into the late summer night.


	2. Chapter 2

Bo sat quietly, the plan running through his mind over and over. No one was talking as they all were nervous and wondering how this would all work out. True none of them were going to be physically involved in this operation. They were all too recognizable to the target and anonymity was crucial. Instead, an elite force of agents trained in covert missions would be going into the proverbial lion's den. Just then the door from the cockpit to the passenger cabin opened and two men stepped through taking seats opposite Bo.

The private jet was small but it served their purposes very well. The plane belonged to one of the men sitting across from Bo. Tall with dark hair that had recently begun to show signs of gray, John Black looked the same as when everyone in Salem had believed he was Roman. He had signed up for this mission the moment Bo had called him for help.

It had been three days since that phone call, but they had been a very busy three days. John had sent his private jet to Salem to pick up Bo, Roman, Abe, and Justin. Then they had stopped by New York to refuel and were joined by Dr. Marcus Hunter who Bo had insisted be there in case anyone needed medical help. After another stop in London to let Shane Donovan board the plane they landed at their final destination of Dubai. This would be where they would wait until this little plan of theirs, worked out over the phone and over the many hours of flight time, was completed.

Shane had provided some men from the ISA to go in and do the actual physical part of the mission they were on. They had been given very specific instructions. They were to keep out of site and not let the target or his people see them. They were to go in and get what Bo needed. It's true that the target of all this was in another country. But that country was in the mid-east which is why they were waiting in Dubai. It was one of the friendlier middle-eastern countries. And it was close enough that the agents could cross the borders unseen and they could be out of Dubai before anyone knew that anything had happened. That was the goal.

Bo looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. 'They should be in by now.' He thought to himself praying that this would go off without a hitch.

"Everything will be alright, Bo." Shane's English accented voice broke the silence on the plane. "The men I sent are the best. They will be in and out in no time. And they will not be seen."

"What if something goes wrong, Governor?" Bo speech was thick with worry.

"Nothing will go wrong."

Bo just gave a short nod as everyone fell back into their own contemplative silences.

Several Hours later the quiet of the plane's cabin was shattered by the ringing of a phone. Shane removed the satellite phone from his pocket. "Hello. Yes. Yes. You know what to do? Excellent. Thank You. Goodbye." Shane put the satellite phone on the small table next to his seat.

Everyone had listened intently trying to figure out what had happened and what news Shane was getting but his end of the conversation held no clues.

"Well," Shane said speaking to the group at large though his gaze was focused on Bo, "That was the team leader. Our mission has been successful thus far. Now we just have to wait for them to cross the border and get to the plane.

"How long will that take?" Bo asked excitedly.

"Not long. They were relatively close to the border. They should be here within the hour."

Bo nodded and lapsed back into silence. Everyone aboard had heard how excited he was and they all had to wonder if that excitement was for the successful completion of their operation or for what would be happening after the ISA agents got to the plane. Either way they were all relieved that everything had gone according to plan.

Everyone sat in the quiet of the plane's cabin until they hear a knock on the door to the plane. Shane got up and opened the hatch too allow four men to board the plane. One of them was carrying a large bundle in his arms while another had a portfolio full of papers in his hand. The men were all dressed in black and as you looked at them they all had that unremarkable any-man look. Even if Bo tried he wouldn't be able to pick a single one of them out of a line-up.

"You said there would be a doctor here? This one needs medical attention." The first man said in a slow deep voice while slightly adjusting the unconscious person in his arms.

"Back here." Marcus spoke up and ushered the agent to a small private room at the back of the plane. The man returned as soon as he had relieved himself of his burden. The second man handed the portfolio to Shane without a word. The four agents stood there awaiting further instruction from their boss.

"Thank you for your help in this little mission gentlemen. You are dismissed." Shane told them.

They all nodded to their Captain and silently filed out of the plane and once on the ground they separated, each to make his own way back to ISA headquarters.

John made sure the plane's hatch was shut properly then stuck his head into the cockpit and told the pilot it was time to take off. "I think we should get out of Dodge." He said as he took his seat.

The others followed his lead and took their seats and fastened their seat belts. All except Bo. His attention was on the door to the little private room at the back of the plane.

"Bo. You can't do anything. Just let Marcus do what we brought him for." Roman said, knowing his little brother wanted to run back there.

Bo just nodded and fastened his seat belt as the plane began to move down the runway. Soon they were in the air, on their way back to Salem.


	3. Chapter 3

"In here." Bo said to Marcus as they entered the dark room. Bo was again using his flashlight to illuminate a path for the both of them. He lit the oil lamp on the table as Marcus made his way to the bed.

"I don't know about this man." Marcus said as he looked around the dimly lit room.

"I do. This place is perfect. No one knows about it." Bo walked around the room lighting the various lamps and candles.

"But it's so isolated," Marcus shivered a little. "and cold." Even though it was still summer the nights up in these mountains got cold and it often snowed in September up here.

"I'll get a fire started." Bo walked over to the bed and pulled the antique quilt and other blankets back before heading to the stone fireplace.

Marcus shot a look of doubt at Bo's back and then looked down at the unconscious woman in his arms. He gently laid her on the double bed and checked her vital signs before drawing the blankets over her to keep her warm. The more time that passed the more it worried him that she hadn't yet woken up.

They had left Dubai 4 days before. They had landed in Florence, Italy where they had taken her to a private hospital that John supported to run some tests. After 3 days of tests and observations they had again boarded the plane and flew towards Salem. Once landing in Salem the others had gotten off the plane and went back to their jobs and families. Bo and Marcus had stayed on the plane waiting for night fall. Then under cover of darkness they had carried Carly to the two SUV's John had waiting for them. Bo drove with Carly securely tucked in the back seat and Marcus followed him.

After driving for a little over an hour they had arrived at a rustic little cabin up in the mountains. It only had one main room with a small bathroom attached. Marcus had a lot of concerns about leaving Carly here. Other than the fact that the place didn't have a heater, he was worried about her being so far away from a hospital. Her condition was serious and she would have to be watched carefully. He knew Bo would do all he could but Bo was not a doctor. When he had a fire roaring in the fireplace, Bo turned towards the bed and walked over looking at Carly.

"How is she?"

"There's no change."

"That's not good is it?"

"I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm worried. She should have woken up by now. The longer it takes the more likely it is that she never will."

"Don't say that. She will wake up. I mean, this is Carly we're talking about."

"I know, but you need to remember that she may not be the Carly that we knew. We don't know what all Lawrence has done to her or how she was affected by it. Maybe she just doesn't want to wake up."

"She will wake up. I know she will. I can feel it." Bo's face was set in a stubborn frown. He refused to give up on her after all she had been through.

"Bo, I don't like the idea of her being all the way out here."

"Marcus, we can't exactly hide her in Salem. Larry is definitely going to have someone look for her there. And this place is close enough that I can come and go and look like I am just going fishing and living life like nothing has changed."

"What about medical attention?"

"There is a Doctor in Salem named Daniel Jonas, and if she needs Medical attention then I will drag him out here to take care of her if I have too."

"You can't leave her alone out here, you know. At least not until she wakes up and heals enough to get around on her own."

"I'm not going to leave her alone. Roman is going to cover for me at the station and he and Abe will tell everyone I went camping because I needed some time to think about things. I'm staying here as long as it takes."

"You still love her don't you?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Bo gave Marcus a small grin. "At least I still love the woman I remember."

"It's been a long time, Bo."

"I know. But those feelings didn't go away just because she left. I have always loved her and I always will."

"Even though she walked away from you?"

Bo nodded. "Marcus, when I first met Carly, I couldn't stop thinking about her. It was her eyes, you know. Those damned emerald green eyes captivated me. Then I began getting to know her. And I tried to stay away from her but I just couldn't. I knew I loved her. And once I admitted it to myself, I knew that she would always own my heart and my soul."

"What about Hope?" Marcus asked with a tilt of his head.

"What about her. Just because I have always loved Carly doesn't mean I didn't love Hope or Billie. I just loved them differently. I still love them both. I share children with them and I will always care about them."

"Yeah, but Hope is your wife. How is she going to feel about Carly being back in your life. And how are you going to explain all of this to her. You know she is going to figure out that you still have feelings for Carly."

"That won't be an issue."

"Why not?"

"Hope and I are in the middle of a divorce. Our marriage was over a long time ago. I'm just waiting on the final decree from the court."

"Wow…you guys are really over? After all these years?"

"Yeah. The thing is that when Hope and I fell in love we were teenagers. Back then she knew that she could pitch a fit or throw a tantrum and she would get what she wanted. And during those years that she was missing and we thought she was dead that didn't change. She never really grew up and I did. She still thinks that she can get what she wants by acting like a spoiled child. A lot of that is my fault. I always gave into her in a fight or when she would have a tantrum. But when Ciara was kidnapped, I realized that wasn't a way to live. And once we got Ciara back, Hope took her and walked out because I didn't do things her way when our daughter was missing. That was the last straw. Hope expected me to fall apart and come crawling to her on my hands and knees begging her to come back. But I didn't want her back, so I filed for divorce."

"I'm sorry, man. What do the Horton's and your family think of this?"

"My family is fine with it. They all agree that Hope went too far after the kidnapping. And the Horton's all seem to understand and accept the divorce. All but Doug and Hope."

"Hope is fighting the divorce?"

"She isn't really fighting it. It's more like she is trying to get me to come back to her."

"But you aren't going back?"

"No, I'm not. I haven't been happy in the relationship in a very long time. There is no trust or communication between us and without those you can't have a healthy marriage. I have spent too long giving up my happiness for Hope's. I don't want my daughter to see her parents in such an unhealthy relationship. And I don't want her growing up thinking that throwing fits to get what you want is right because that is what her mother does and I give in to keep peace."

"Good Point." Marcus knew that, divorced or not, Hope would have issues with Carly being back in Bo's life. He knew he needed to change the subject. "What is this place anyway?"

Bo chuckled. "Do you remember back when everyone knew that I was in love with Carly but I kept pushing her away. It was when Victor was trying to woo her?" Marcus nodded. "Well Carly was driving out to Brookeville one night in the middle of a blizzard and Mrs. Horton told me so I followed her. Well I found her on the side of the road where her car had slid off because of ice and was stuck in a snow bank. And once I stopped my car it was snowing too hard to get it going again and the roads were closed so we found this place and spent a couple of days snowed in here. This is where we were when I first told her that I loved her."

"Oh. Don't you think the people who own this place will care that you are holed up here with a woman you had kidnapped from another country."

"Nope. The owner won't care."

"How do you know?"

"Because I own it. And you can't tell anyone about this place. No one knows about it."

"I won't say a word. I still don't like leaving you guys out here."

"We will be fine Marcus. The place is stocked with a years worth of non-perishable food. There is a pond outside that has plenty of fish in it. And there's lots of firewood to keep the place warm at night and when the winter gets here. Hopefully by then Carly will be up and around and healed and we will have been able to get her a divorce from Larry."

Marcus sighed and looked back down at Carly then up at Bo and nodded. "OK, but you call me if there are any changes in her condition, good or bad."

"Of course. When do you fly back to New York?"

Marcus looked at his watch. "In about 3 hours so I gotta get going."

"OK. And thanks for everything."

"No problem. You aren't the only one who loves her you know. I just love her like a sister."

Bo grinned. "Is there anything special I need to do?"

"Well we need to unload the car and I need to get her hooked up to an IV before I go."

Bo nodded and they headed out to unload the second SUV that was loaded down with the medical supplies Marcus had requested and Shane had paid for. It took the two of them about 10 minutes to unload and arrange all the supplies. Then Marcus hooked Carly up to an IV that would supply her with the medications and nutrients that she would need. The medication was already in syringes in the proper doses so that all Bo had to do was inject them into the IV at the right time. Marcus gave Bo a list of each medication and when it would need to be given to her. Then he showed him how to change the bags of nutrients and saline hanging from the pole. Since Carly was unconscious she couldn't eat so these pouches of nutrients kept her alive.

Marcus looked at his watch again. "OK man, I gotta get going or I won't make my plane."

"Is there anything else I need to do?"

"Just remember when she wakes up she will probably be in pain. All of her ribs are cracked or broken and she has a major concussion. She was lucky there was no hemorrhaging in her brain or any internal injuries. Just make sure she takes it easy. Cause I can bet that one thing that hasn't change about her after all these years is her being stubborn."

"I'll bet your right about that." Bo chuckled. "OK, man, thanks. Be careful."

"I will. You take care of yourself and her."

"I will."

The two men shook hands and Marcus walked out to his SUV and was soon gone leaving Bo and Carly alone in the solitude of the woods and mountains. Bo walked over to the bed and looked down at the woman he had loved more and loved deeper than any other in his life. He reached down and gently ran his fingertip across her right cheekbone tracing the bruise that had been left on that beautiful face and he vowed to himself that if he ever laid eyes on Lawrence Alamain again then he would kill him. Bo began stroking Carly's hair.

"Everything is gonna be OK, Princess. I promise. I love you Carly and I will keep you safe."

Carly didn't move but Bo believed that Carly could hear him and in his heart he knew, well he prayed, that she would wake up soon. He left her side and walked over and sat down at the small table and opened the portfolio that the ISA agents had removed from Lawrence's when they had taken Carly. He sat quietly looking at every scrap of paper carefully. He would right the wrongs Larry had perpetrated against Carly. He just had to get to work because Carly wasn't the only one who needed protecting.


	4. Chapter 4

Bo groaned as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. It was morning and he had fallen asleep at the table reading and re-reading the papers taken from Lawrence's. He sat up and began turning his head back and forth in an effort to rid himself of the stiffness in his neck. As he turned his head he caught a glimpse of Carly out of the corner of his eye.

He walked over to the bed and looked down at her. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully. He smiled as he thought back to all those mornings on the boat when he would wake up first and he would just lay there and watch her sleep. Then he would wake her with a kiss that usually led to them making love and one or both of them being late for work.

Bo shook his head slightly to clear his head and looked back down at Carly. Then he looked at his watch and realized it was time to give her the medication that Marcus had left for her. He quickly found the proper medication and carefully inserted the needle into the IV port and pushed the plunger on the syringe. He fervently prayed to any god in heaven that this medication was helping her and that she would wake soon.

Bo walked back over to the table and looked down at the last document he had read the night before. He just couldn't believe what it said. He couldn't believe anyone could be so cruel to a woman as beautiful and kind as Carly. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Shane's number.

"Hey Governor."

"Bo, how is everything? Did you get Carly to the safe house?"

"Yeah, Marcus and I got her here."

"Any problems?"

"No. Nothing so far. Marcus left for New York last night and Carly and I are safe and sound where no one will find us."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I have hidden her in a place that no one knows about."

"I hope your right. I don't like that you wouldn't let me post guards around where ever it is you are."

"I know but I can take care of myself and I will protect Carly you don't have to worry about us."

"If you say so. How is she?"

"She's the same."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks, listen man have you read your copy of the papers your agents got from Larry's?"

"Yes I have and I can't even fathom how anyone could do what he has done."

"Neither can I." Bo's voice darkened with anger as he thought about the pain and torment his princess had endured all these years.

"Listen Bo, I will take care of finding and protecting them. You concentrate on protecting yourself and Carly."

"But…"

"No buts. You can't leave her there alone and unconscious in order to go searching for them and I have the resources to search more thoroughly. I won't let anything happen to them. I promise you that."

Bo knew Shane was right as he looked over at Carly again. He couldn't leave her and when she woke up he would be able to tell her that Shane and the ISA were taking care of things.

"OK. But you'll keep me updated, right?"

"Of course. And you do the same. Let me know how she is and if you need any more supplies."

"I will. Thanks for everything man."

"No thanks needed, you're family. Both of you."

"Well thanks any way."

"I'll be in touch when I have some information for you."

"OK. Take care Governor."

"You too."

Bo hung up the phone and stretched his back and neck still stiff from sleeping at the table. 'A hot shower will help' he thought to himself. He looked over at Carly again then went to the door to check outside and make sure everything was as it should be. Then he made sure the door was locked securely and headed to the small bathroom to shower.

Bo walked into the bathroom and had a sudden thought. Carly hadn't had a bath in a couple of days. When they had stopped at the hospital in Italy a nurse had bathed her because she had been rather dirty. And one thing Bo knew about Carly is she didn't like being dirty. He remembered she would shower before work and then again when she got home after work. He had never complained because he usually ended up in the shower with her. "I'm going to give her a bath' he thought to himself.

Knowing he couldn't bring her into the bathroom and bathe her in the bath tub, he got a clean towel, wash cloths and the soap and took them into the main room. He set the stuff down next to Carly on the bed and went and got a large bowl that he filled with water that was just shy of hot but had a nice warmth to it and set it on the table next to the bed. It was about then that Bo had second thoughts about bathing Carly. He wondered how angry she would be when she woke up. Would she be angry?

He didn't know what all Lawrence had done to her. He only knew that what he had heard and seen since she was taken from that house. At the hospital Marcus had barely been able to explain to Bo and the others the extent of Carly's injuries because he was so upset. Carly had a massive concussion, all of her ribs were currently broken or cracked, and she was severely malnourished. Bo had a feeling there was more that Marcus hadn't told them about. But he didn't press it. He just vowed that any pain Lawrence had brought to Carly, he would bring that same pain back on Larry tenfold.

Bo put aside his misgivings and pulled back the covers. He then set to the task of undressing Carly. Once he had removed the hospital issued pajamas and she lay there completely naked, Bo just stood for a minute looking at her. He didn't see her shape or the curves of her body. All he could see were the bruises on her abdomen and down her legs and arms. He also saw how thin she was. She looked as though she hadn't eaten a proper meal in years. She was thinner than Hope and that was saying a lot. It made him angry to see her beautiful body so bruised and broken.

Bo took a wash cloth and soaked it in the warm water before ringing it out and squeezing a small amount of the body wash he had brought out onto the cloth. He worked up a light lather then gently began to wash Carly, careful not to press hard on the bruises or put pressure on her ribs. He picked up another wash cloth and used it to rinse the soap off of her. He carefully guided her into a sitting position so he could do her back. It was then that he saw them. The long thin scars that crisscrossed the delicate skin of her back.

They looked to be old scars made by a whip of some kind. With every detail he learned of Carly's life for the past 17 years he became angrier and angrier at Lawrence for the things he had done to her. But he also became madder and madder at himself for not fighting for her all those years ago. If only he had stopped her from getting on that plane with that bastard. Bo took a deep breath to get his anger and guilt under control and finished bathing Carly. Once he had dried her off he ran into the problem of finding something for her to wear. He didn't want to put her back in those hospital pj's.

Bo looked around the cabin and his mind flooded with the memories of the first time he and Carly had set foot in this cabin. It was in that blizzard and by the time they had gotten inside Carly's clothes were all wet and she was freezing. He had told her to get undressed while he searched for some dry clothes for her to put on. He was lucky that night he had found a sweater in a trunk that fit her. She had been so beautiful. Bo brought himself out of his memories and back to the present. He needed to find something for Carly to wear. She may be mad when she woke up and found out he had bathed her but she would be furious if she was still naked when she woke up.

Bo finally gave up his search and went to his own overnight bag and pulled out a Salem PD t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. He dressed Carly and pulled the blankets back over her. Now he would need to remedy the lack of clothing issue. For both of them. He would call Roman and see what he could do about getting them some clothes. Bo pulled out his cell phone and Dialed Romans' number. With his back turned he didn't see when the long slender fingers of Carly's right hand begin to move.


	5. Chapter 5

"Yeah, man. Just send the directions to my phone." Roman said into his cell phone. He had his back to the door and didn't hear Hope enter the room because he was talking to Bo.

"No, little brother. It's not a problem. I'll take care of it. OK, yeah later man."

Roman hung up the phone and turned to see Hope staring at him from the doorway.

"Hope." Roman said nodding to her before sitting down at his desk. "What can I do for you?"

"That was Bo on the phone." Hope said ignoring Roman's question.

'Way to state the obvious' Roman thought to himself. "Yeah it was. What can I do for you?"

"Where is Bo?"

"I don't know where he went Hope. And if he wanted you or anyone else to know he would have told you. Now, what can I do for you?"

"You can tell me where my husband is. How can we work things out if I can't find him."

Roman just stared at Hope as though she had lost her mind.

"What are you going to work out Hope? Bo is divorcing you because you walked out on him and took Ciara from him. I don't think there is anything to work out."

"I just needed some time to think after Ciara was kidnapped."

"Then you should have just told that to Bo and he would have given you space and time. But you took Ciara and left town without telling him and then when you came back you took her and moved out. That was the last straw, Hope. That wasn't you needing time to think. That was you trying to manipulate Bo into feeling guilty about not doing things your way in order to get what you want. I don't blame Bo for filing for divorce."

"Roman, how can you say that? Bo and I are meant to be together forever. He is the only man I have ever loved."

"Hope, love isn't manipulating people to get what you want. As for being meant for each other. I thought that about you guys when you first got together all those years ago. But now, I don't think you are meant to be together forever. If you were, then you two wouldn't have had all the problems and breakups that you have had."

"We have always worked it out and gotten back together. He even left Billie for me. He loves me."

"I'm not saying that he doesn't love you. I just don't think he is in love with you anymore. And yes he left Billie for you because he thought the two of you could pick up where you left off when you disappeared. But the problem is that in those years that you were missing and presumed dead, Bo changed. He went through a lot. Losing you, falling in love again, and losing her…"

"I don't want to hear about Carly Manning." Hope said loudly and with an ice cold tone of voice cutting Roman off. "She was a rebound, nothing more. If I hadn't been taken and thought dead she would never have wormed her way into Bo's life or his bed. And If they had been together when I came back Bo would have left her just like he left Billie."

"Who are you trying to convince, Hope? Me or yourself?"

"Just tell me where Bo is."

"Bo went away to do some thinking of his own. And I don't know where he is or when he is coming back. Now unless you have another reason to be here, I have work to do. Close the door behind you."

"But Roman…"

"That is an order Detective. If you are not here to work then you can leave. But this conversation is over and I have a case to work on."

The tone of Roman's voice left no question. Hope knew the he wouldn't talk to her anymore. She nodded and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. She held her head high and walked through the squad room and out of the station knowing that all of the other officers had heard the way their commander had ended their talk and were staring at her. "If Roman won't tell me where Bo is then I will find out myself' Hope thought to herself. With that she headed to the hotel that Bo was currently staying at.


	6. Chapter 6

The eyes taking in the scene were dark brown with small flecks of gold. The young man looked around at the crystal clear blue skies and the sparkling water underneath the small boat he was steering into the marina. Shawn-Douglas Brady turned his head and saw the world famous Sydney Opera House up ahead with a bridge looming behind it. The harbor in Sydney, Australia was famous for its skyline. Shawn looked around and saw his daughter Claire looking in awe at the city they were sailing into and his wife Belle smiling at their child. He turned back to the wheel and concentrated on navigating the waters of the harbor until he had reached a marina and docked in an available slip. Belle quickly hopped off the deck of the boat onto the pier and caught the rope Shawn threw and tied the boat securely to the dock. He then gathered Claire in his arms and stepped onto the pier himself.

"Claire and I are going shopping for supplies. What are you going to do?" Belle asked her husband as he set their daughter down next to her. Belle quickly took Claire's hand in hers.

"I don't know. I guess I'll just look around."

"OK, well then do you want to meet back here so we can go to dinner?"

"Yeah. Let's see." Shawn looked at the watch his father had given him before he and Belle had left Salem with Claire. This watch never had to be set. It changed itself when you crossed into a different time zone. His father knew it would come in handy when they were sailing around the world. "Will three hours be enough time for you two to shop?"

"Yes. That will be plenty of time. Meet you back here in three hours?"

"Yes, Dear." Shawn gave Belle a peck on the lips then bent down a kissed Claire on the cheek. "You have fun with your mom."

"OK, Dad."

Shawn stood up and watched his wife and daughter walk into the city of Sydney before setting off into the afternoon Australian sun himself.

After about two hours of exploring the streets of Sydney, Shawn walked into a small café and ordered a beer. He was sitting, sipping his beer, and so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the man who walked up to him.

"Shawn-Douglas?"

Pulled from his reverie by the man's quiet baritone voice, Shawn turned and looked at the guy. Standing before him was a man about his own age. He had dark hair and stood about six feet tall. High cheek bones and a distinctly straight roman nose dominated the man's features. But it was his eyes that Shawn noticed immediately. He had seen those eyes before but he couldn't place them.

"Do I know you?"

The man grinned and nodded. "Yes. It's been a very long time since we last saw each other but we knew each other as kids." The man said waiting for Shawn to figure out where they knew each other from.

Shawn studied the man further, taking in his face and countenance. But he kept looking back to the guy's eyes. He knew those eyes. 'Where have I seen those eyes?' Shawn asked himself. He searched his memories to find the answer. The guy said they knew each other when they were kids, so Shawn thought back to his childhood. Suddenly, in his mind's eye, he remembered where he had seen this guy and where the man had gotten those eyes.

"Nicholas?"

The man smiled and nodded.

"Nicholas Alamain." Shawn stood up and embraced the man his childhood friend had become. "How the hell are you?"

"I'm good. I almost thought I was hallucinating when I saw you. What are you doing in Sydney, Australia of all places?"

"My wife, daughter, and I are sailing around the world and this is our latest port of call. What about you? What are you doing down under?"

"Oh, I'm here on business. Nothing too exciting just reworking the info-structure of a small company that is hemorrhaging money."

"Sounds important. How did you get into work like that?"

"Well the company is owned by Alamain industries. Honestly I'm supposed to be liquidating the company but I think it has incredible potential and I'm trying to save it and avoiding putting a lot of people out of work."

"Oh. What will your dad say if you don't do what he wants?"

"Honestly, I could care less." Nicholas's face darkened with the mention of his father.

Shawn decided he should change the subject fast.

"So…how's your mom? I miss her so much."

"So do I." Nicholas's features softened and his eyes showed a sadness that made Shawn wonder.

"What do you mean?"

"My mom died."

"What?!" Shawn sat down in shock that the woman he loved as a second mother was gone. "When? How?"

Nicholas sat down with Shawn. "She died about two months after we left Salem. She was in a car accident and died after a couple of weeks in a coma."

"I'm so sorry man." Shawn said as a tear trailed down his cheek. It was true that he had been hurt and angry when Carly had left. She had promised him that she would always be there. He had stayed angry for a while until his dad had decided that he was old enough to know the truth. His father had explained that Carly couldn't have any more children and that Lawrence was taking Nicholas with him. The only reason Carly had gone was because it was her only chance to raise a child of her own.

Although he had understood at the time he was still angry at the idea that Carly had left because Nicholas was her biological child and that he wasn't so she couldn't stick around. It wasn't until he became a father himself that he realized that was what any parent would do and was able to forgive her. And now to hear that she had died shortly after leaving Salem made him sad that he had spent so much time being angry at her and not letting himself think about her or how much she had loved him.

"Shawn, this may sound odd but, can you tell me about her?"

"What?"

"Can you tell me about my mom? You knew her longer and better than I did."

"Why don't you ask your dad?"

"I don't really talk to my father. After mom died, he wouldn't talk about her. I wasn't allowed to have pictures of her or anything that was hers. He completely erased her from our lives."

"Well, what I remember most about her was how warm and loving she was. And she was kind. She was my mom." Shawn shrugged not really knowing what he could tell Nicholas. "Dad was always saying how beautiful she was inside and out. Even after she had left with you and your dad, my dad talked about what a wonderful person she was. I don't know how I'm gonna tell him that she died."

"I remember that your dad loved her. How do you think he'll take the news?"

"I think he'll be devastated. I mean, I know that he loves my mom and all, but I also know that he never stopped loving Carly. I honestly don't think he ever really let go of her in his heart." He looked up to see a questioning look on Nicholas's face. "My mom and dad are getting a divorce. I know for a fact that my mom has always been insanely jealous over my dad's relationship and his love for Carly. I think she always believed that Dad loved Carly more than her."

"What do you think?"

"I think that my mom was right about that. I think my dad loved Carly more than any other woman in his life. Not that he didn't give everything he had to my mom, but I think Carly still held most of his heart and my mom hated that."

"Sorry about your parents."

Shawn shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not. My mom and dad's marriage has been pretty rocky for the last few years. I just want them both to be happy and I really don't think they can do that for each other anymore."

Shawn looked at his watch. "Listen man, I'm sorry but I have to go. I have to meet my wife and daughter for dinner."

"No problem. Maybe we can get together before you leave town. I'd love to meet your wife and kid."

"You got it." Shawn smiled at his childhood friend. The two men exchanged numbers and email addresses before parting. As Shawn walked back to the marina that his boat was docked in he wondered how he was going to call his father and tell him that the woman he loved so much had died. Shawn knew that Bo considered Carly the love of his life and he also knew that this information would devastate his dad. But he also knew he couldn't keep this from his father. He would have to tell him. He looked at his watch again and knew it was far too late in Salem to call his dad so he would have to wait. He would discuss it with Belle after they put Claire to bed and try to figure out what he would say. But for now he was going to enjoy dinner with his wife and he offered up a prayer of thanks that he didn't have to go through what his father would go through the next time Shawn called him.


	7. Chapter 7

Bo picked up his cell phone and looked at the caller ID before hitting the button that said ignore and sending the call to his voicemail. He had neither the desire nor the inclination to talk to his soon-to-be ex-wife. He knew it would be the same conversation they had already had 50 times. She wanted to work things out now that he had filed for divorce. He also knew she would want to know where he was and what he was doing here. He looked over at Carly, who was still unconscious, and knew that telling Hope about her would be tantamount to putting up a billboard telling Larry where Carly was.

Bo had always known that Hope was very sensitive and extremely jealous of his relationship with Carly. She had sensed that he never stopped loving Carly and that his love for Carly ran very deep. But even though she was so touchy about Carly she had, to the outside world, always dismissed his relationship with Carly as a rebound. She would never admit that Bo had truly loved this woman. Hope had also asserted her belief that he would have left Carly they way he had left Billie.

Bo, however, knew that had he and Carly still been together when Hope came crashing back into his life he would never have left her. He wouldn't have left Carly for any reason back then and he wouldn't leave her now. Bo was brought out of his thoughts by the buzzing of his cell phone, which was on vibrate. Thinking it was probably Hope calling again, Bo almost hit the ignore button without looking at the caller ID but saw his son's name before he could do so. He answered the phone as he stepped out the front door, where he had been standing looking at the late summer sun shining through the trees.

"Hey, son."

"Hi, Dad."

"How's the sail around the world going? Where are you this time?"

"Sydney, Australia."

"That's a beautiful city. Friendly people."

"Yeah. Listen dad I need to tell you something."

"What? Are you OK?"

"I'm fine dad. And before you get worried Belle and Claire are fine too."

"Good. OK, so then what do you want to tell me?"

Bo waited but Shawn didn't say anything for a moment. "Shawn?" Then he heard his son take a deep breath.

"Dad you might want to sit down. I know I had too when I heard."

"Son, you're starting to scare me. What's going on?"

"Well, I really don't know how to say this."

"Say what? Shawn you know you can tell me anything."

"I know, dad. It's just so hard to say. And I know it will be hard for you to hear."

"Just say it. When it's something difficult that you know no one will want to hear you just say it. It's like ripping off a band-aid. Best to do it quickly."

"OK. It's about Carly."

"Carly? That's a name I haven't heard from you in a very long time."

"Well I ran into Nicholas yesterday and he told me something that I knew you would want to know."

"What is it? What about Carly?"

"She's dead, dad."

"What?" Bo was shocked. Moments ago when his son had mentioned Nicholas, he figured that Shawn was calling him to let him know that Carly had been kidnapped and was missing.

"Nicholas told me that she was in a car accident a few weeks after they left Salem. He said she was in a coma for a couple of weeks and then she died as a result of her injuries."

Bo just listened. He was shocked that Nicholas thought his mother was dead and had apparently been told that within the two months after he and Carly had left Salem with Lawrence.

"Dad? Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm OK. So Nikki said that Carly died right after they left Salem?"

"Yeah. He asked me to tell him about Carly because I spent more time with her than he did."

"Why didn't he ask Lawrence?"

"I asked him that and he said that he didn't talk to his father very much. Nicholas also said after Carly died that Lawrence completely erased her from their lives. He wasn't allowed to talk about her or to have any pictures of her or anything that was hers."

Shawn noticed that Bo had gone silent again and also noted that his father hadn't seemed upset at all upon hearing that his former fiance, a woman he knew his dad had loved more than any other, had died shortly after ending their relationship.

"I don't understand dad."

"You don't understand what?"

"Why aren't you upset about Carly's death?"

Bo knew he couldn't fake the emotions he would have if he had found out Carly was really dead and he knew he couldn't lie to his son about it.

"Shawn, I need to tell you something now. Maybe you should be sitting."

"What is it dad?" Shawn's voice was suddenly wary.

"Before I tell you I want your promise that you won't tell anyone what I am going to tell you."

"Dad…"

"Shawn, I need you to promise. It's very very important that you know that you can NOT tell anyone about this."

"OK. I promise."

"Carly isn't dead, son." Bo said quietly as he looked through the window at Carly.

Bo held his breath as he waited for a reaction from his son. When he was just greeted with silence he spoke quietly into the cell phone.

"Shawn?"

"What do you mean she's not dead?" came Shawn's voice. His tone was cold as steel. Bo knew that an explosion was forth coming and prepared himself.

"I mean exactly what I said. She isn't dead. In fact I'm looking at her right now."

"WHAT?!" Shawn's voice boomed through the cell phone causing Bo to jerk it away from his ear before going deaf as his son yelled. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DAD?"

"Stop yelling and I will try to explain."

"Fine. Explain."

"About a week ago I received a letter from Carly. Basically, it said that Lawrence has been holding her hostage and torturing her all these years. She wasn't asking me to help her, she was asking me to help someone else."

"Who?"

"I can't tell you that yet son. One I don't really know myself. Your uncle Shane is helping me find the person Carly wanted protected. And two it may be too dangerous for you to know details."

"Why don't you just ask Carly who this person is?"

"She's unconscious. A couple of days after I got the letter we rescued her from Larry's compound in the middle-east. She was already unconscious and she hasn't woken up yet."

"First of all who is the 'we' that rescued her? Second what happened to her? And third what about her son dad? He thinks she's dead."

"We refers to myself, Shane, John, Justin, Abe, Marcus Hunter, and your Uncle Roman. Shane sent some of his men into take her. Any of us would have been to recognizable."

"OK. And what happened to Carly? Why is she unconscious?"

"It seems that before Shane's men got inside, Larry beat the crap out of her. She was unconscious when they found her and she hasn't woken up yet. And as for Nicholas. I had no idea that he thought she was dead. When you called and said you had to tell me something about Carly, I thought you were going to tell me that you had heard she was kidnapped."

"Dad, we need to tell him that she's alive."

"We can't son. Not yet."

"He deserves to know dad."

"I know he does. And he will but I think we should wait until she wakes up and see how she wants to deal with it all."

"But she's OK?"

"I don't know son. Marcus said she should have woken up by now."

Shawn could hear the fear and concern in his dad's voice and knew that his dad still loved Carly.

"I'm sure she will be alright. She managed to survive everything that Grandpa threw at you guys all those years ago."

"Yes, she did and she has survived living with Larry all these years. God only knows what all he has done to her. She will be OK, Shawn, I know she will."

"What if she doesn't wake up dad?"

"Don't say that. She will. We have to keep hoping and praying for her."

"I'll pray for her dad."

"Thanks, son. And remember don't tell anyone about this."

"Can I tell Belle? I don't like keeping secrets from her."

"Yeah you can tell Belle. But make sure you swear her to secrecy and that when you tell her little ears aren't where they can hear."

"I'll make sure Claire can't hear and I'll make Belle promise not to say anything."

"Good."

"Dad?"

"What?"

"Have you told mom about this?"

"No. And you can't say anything about this to her."

"Won't she notice that you are spending a lot of time at the hospital? Not to mention you know how fast news travels in Salem. She's bound to hear that Carly is back, shouldn't she hear it from you?"

"We aren't at the hospital and we aren't in Salem."

"Where are you? And who is taking care of Carly?"

"I can't tell you where we are but we are someplace safe. And I'm taking care of her. Marcus left me enough supplies and detailed instructions on her medications and stuff."

Bo turned around at the sound of an approaching car and smile as he saw his older brother's car making its way up the old path to the cabin.

"Listen son, I have to go. Just remember you can't tell anyone other than Belle."

"I know dad. I promise I won't"

"OK. I love you son."

"I love you too dad."

"Give Belle and Claire hugs from me and please pray for Carly."

"We will dad. We will."

Bo snapped his cell phone shut as Roman got out of his car and looked around at the cabin and trees around him. Bo headed towards the car as Roman began to remove what looked like an entire closet full of clothes in various bags and boxes.

Inside the cabin, Carly's eyelids fluttered open. Her vision was dull and blurry and she couldn't tell where she was. There was no sound around her and she couldn't focus her eyes in order to determine her location. She knew only that she wasn't in the small room Lawrence held her in anymore. With this little bit of information easing her mind slightly, Carly closed her eyes again as her mind drifted back into the void of unconsciousness and away from the horrors of reality and the nightmare that her life had been for so long.


	8. Chapter 8

She stood at the end of the dark hallway, just letting her eyes adjust to the lack of light. On either side of the hall she could see light spilling out under doors that were shut. Carly began to move forward slowly, her hand stretched out in front of her, feeling her way in the dark. After a few steps her hand closed on the cold metal of an antique brass door handle. With trepidation she pushed down on the handle and the door swung open, the sudden burst of light blinding her for a moment. When she was able to focus her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She wasn't looking into a room but into the first real memory she had.

"You must understand, Katerina. You and Francois have to do what is expected of you in life." said the governess her parents had hired to teach their children how to behave in life.

Carly looked at her five year old self, her dark blond hair shining in the sunlight and her two year old brother, Francois, sitting on the blanket at the governesses feet, playing with the blocks scattered around him.

"What is expected of me, Nanny Van der Meer?"

"You, Katerina, will marry Lawrence Alamain and be a proper wife. You will give your husband children to continue his family line and you will entertain his business associates and friends. You will be a proper society wife just as your mother is."

"But, Nanny Van der Meer, I want to go to school and learn. I don't want to just throw parties. I don't want to be like mother."

"Katerina, life is not about what we want. Life is about doing what is expected of us and as a girl and when you grow into a woman you will be expected to be obedient to your father and then your husband. That is the way of this world. You are a privileged girl Katerina. You will never want for anything. You are very lucky."

Carly closed the door and stood still for a moment letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the hallway again. Even at the age of five she had known that she didn't want to marry Lawrence. She had wanted to be more than arm candy for her husband. She had wanted to learn and to help people and she knew that her parents would never allow that. Carly shook the thoughts out of her head and walked to the door across the hall. Slowly she opened the door to another childhood memory.

"A very special gift, Katerina." Her father said as he held out an engraved gold coin. "One of a kind. You must guard it carefully. In the entire world there is no other girl with a coin like this. Only you."

"It's so shiny." The girl replied with a slight smile.

"Yes. Most precious. It was sent to you from Leopold Alamain. Do you recognize that name?"

Carly watched her 10 year old self shake her head.

"He's the father of Lawrence, the man you will marry on your 25th birthday. Leopold gave this to me on the day you were born, as a token of our agreement, never to be broken. Now on your 10th birthday I give this prize to you." Her father handed her the coin and smiling down at her.

"But why do I have to marry Lawrence?" She asked with a frown.

"A promise was made."

"But I didn't make it, I don't even remember."

"Of course not, you were only a child."

"Then how come…"

"Katerina, your marriage has been arranged for you. This is the way things are done, it will not be changed." Her father stated firmly. "You are still too young to realize how much depends on the union of our families. But it will make us all rich. Richer than even King Midas ever dreamt of being. So you must hide this," He took the coin she held between her fingers and placed it into the palm of her hand closing her fingers around it, "and keep it safe forever. Never let it go. As long as you hold that coin, there will be no doubt of who you are. What your destiny will be. You are Katerina Von Leuschner, and you will one day be married to Lawrence Alamain."

"NO!" she yelled slamming the coin down on the table and storming towards the door past her father.

"KATERINA!" he said loudly as he reached out and grabbed her arm to keep her from passing him.

"It's not right!" she continued yelling. "How can I marry someone I don't even know!"

Carly backed out of the memory and closed the door. She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. She looked to her left and saw the darkness of the hallway continue, its walls broken every few feet by a series of closed doors. She wasn't sure if she would be able to look behind all these doors. There were some memories in her life she knew she wouldn't want to relive. She took another deep breath and knowing she had no other option continued down the hallway. She slowly reached the next door and turned the knob, pushing slightly on the door.

As it swung open she looked into her dorm room at boarding school. Her best friend, Jennifer Horton, was reclining on her bed, while she had her back turned, looking into their closet. They were both still dressed in their school uniforms. The long gray skirts and white oxford style blouses would never set any fashion trends, but they also made it possible for all the girls to be on equal footing when it came to clothes. Carly saw her 16 year old self turn around and cringed at her long, blond eighties hairstyle and headband.

"OK, I've got my escape all planned." She walked over to the other side of the room past where Jennifer was lounging on the bed.

"I've never heard of anyone running away from boarding school before." Jennifer was saying as she got up off the bed to stand behind her best friend.

"You will help me won't you?" she said turning to face Jennifer, a note of desperation in her voice.

"Of course I will, Katerina, you're my best friend. So what's the plan?"

"I just need you to cover for me when I run away."

"OK, I'll do whatever you want. Are you sure this is what you wanna do?"

"I have to Jennifer." She walked past her roommate and friend, over to her bed.

"Katerina, why don't you just tell your family that you hate it here?" They both sat down on the bed as Jennifer said this.

"If I tell you something will you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"It's not just this boarding school I have to get away from, it's my family too."

"What? I don't understand." Carly couldn't help but think to herself that after having met Jennifer's family she wasn't surprised that Jen didn't understand. Her best friend was lucky enough to be blessed with a large extended family who loved and cherished her. Carly's had thought of her as nothing more than a piece of property to be sold to the highest bidder. Carly watched herself turn away from Jennifer.

"Just don't ask me to explain, OK, maybe one day I'll be able to tell you."

Carly pulled the door closed and slowly walked down the hallway for a minute, passing several doors on both sides of the hall. She didn't know what memories lay behind these doors but she was almost certain she didn't want to see them. Finally she stopped at another door. She didn't know why but she had a strong urge telling her she needed to open this door. She reached out and turned the handle and the door swung open on its own. Carly stood in the doorway and looked at another scene from her life.


	9. Chapter 9

So i give half credit of this to ScarlettKate1013...we devised this through a text chat when i was bored at work. plus she wrote part of it Thumbsup

Bo was pulled away from his thoughts by his cell phone vibrating loudly on the table, the sound magnified tenfold by the silence in the cabin and the surrounding mountain air. He walked over and picked up the phone looking at the Caller ID before answering.

"Hello?" He said in a low voice. He hoped that Carly could hear his voice when he talked to her but at the same time he didn't think she needed to hear him talking about certain problems.

"Bo. How are you?" The man's voice was calm but deep. It fit the man on the other end of the line.

"I'm fine, Mickey. How are you?"

"I'm OK. I wish this was a social call but it isn't."

"What's up?"

"I've received the final papers for your divorce. I just need to get both your and Hope's signatures so I can file them."

"Oh…OK. I have to have a witness when I sign them don't I?"

"Yes. I thought in order to expedite things that you and Hope and I could meet and we would sign the papers together."

"I'm out of town right now Mickey."

"I know. I was just wondering when you would be back so that we can get this done. That is if you still want this divorce."

"Yes, I still want the divorce." Bo said without hesitation.

"You sound pretty sure about that."

"I am very sure, Mickey. I won't be talked out of this. My marriage to Hope has been over for a very long time. Now it's just time to make it official."

"So when can I expect you to come and sign the papers?"

"I can't get back to town right now…"

"Where are you?"

"That isn't important. I just can't get back to Salem for the time being. Tell you what, give the papers to Roman and he can bring them to me to sign and he can witness it."

"OK. I'll give Roman a call. Take care of yourself Bo."

"I will Mickey, thanks for calling. And give Mrs. H my love."

"Will do. Goodbye."

"Bye."

Bo closed the phone, ending the call, and turned around and looked at Carly. It had been two weeks and she was still unconscious. Marcus called every day to check on her but there had been no change since the team of elite ISA operatives had taken her from Lawrence's compound. Marcus had told Bo that the more time that passed the less likely it was that Carly would wake up. Bo walked over to the chair he had sitting next to the bed and sat down, reaching out to take her hand. He knew she would wake up, it was just a matter of time.

He knew that she was in there some where, he could feel her in his heart. What worried him most was what she would tell him when she did wake up. Would she be able to talk about her life with Lawrence and the things he did to her? He looked down at that same beautiful face that he remembered from so many years ago. That was the face he had seen in his dreams since the first time he had seen her. She looked like she was sleeping. He watched as her closed eyelids fluttered as thought she were dreaming and wondered to himself what was going through her mind at that moment.

Carly was standing in the doorway watching the scene unfold. She was sitting in a small café with the man she had been seeing for a year. Carly knew what was happening even though you couldn't hear what was being said. This was when she had left Lawrence. She had found out that the man she thought she knew and loved wasn't what he claimed. He was not who or what he had pretended to be. She had found out that he had been lying to her from the moment they met in order to get her to marry him. He only wanted the money she would inherit.

They were whispering angrily. She had her dark hair pulled back in a barrette and was wearing an off the shoulder blouse with a black background and large flowers on it. Back then she was still Katerina. Carly watched from the door as a man walked into the café and sat down a couple of tables away from her and Lawrence. He had beautiful dark brown eyes and long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail at nape of his neck. He was wearing a blue and white stripped long sleeved shirt and Jeans. Even back then Bo was handsome.

Just then movement from the other table turned Carly's attention away from Bo. Lawrence had just stood up and grabbed her younger self still sitting there. Carly remembered that moment very clearly. She had just told Lawrence she was leaving him. Bo jumped up from his table and intervened on her behalf. She watched as Lawrence let go of her 17 year old self and took a swing at Bo. The two men started to fight and Carly saw her younger self inching towards the café door all the while not being able to take her eyes off the two men fighting.

At that moment Lawrence notice the young woman was near the door and lunged at her to try and stop her from leaving, but was pulled back by Bo, the stranger who had saved her from the man she was to marry. Carly watched the seventeen year old girl she used to be dart out the door and down the ally way next to the café and followed her. For some reason after leaving the café, she had never been able to remember anything else of that night, only waking up the next morning on a small plane headed for France with no clue as to how she had gotten there.

Carly followed her younger self for just a moment when she saw the girl hide behind a large box truck parked between the café and a small bookstore. The girl hid and waited, watching the café door. After a few minutes the handsome stranger walked out of the café and looked around. It was almost as if he sensed her there.

"Psst…" the girl whispered to him.

He looked over and saw her head poke out from behind the box truck and she waved him over. He walked over and behind the box truck with her. He looked at her intently.

"You OK?" He asked her.

"I'm fine. Thank you for helping me, but you need to get out of here fast."

"That guy isn't getting up anytime soon and he won't be pushing you around anymore."

The girl shook her head. "You don't understand. He's very rich and very powerful. His family runs this country and now you are going to be in trouble for helping me."

Bo saw the young girl's bright emerald eyes fill with tears at the thought of him being hurt because he had helped her. He smiled gently, reached up and used his thumb to softly wipe away a single tear that had escaped and fallen down her cheek. The moment his hand brushed against her cheek present day Carly felt a jolt as though electricity had shot through her body and saw her younger self shiver slightly.

"We should get you some place safe." Bo said to the young woman.

"You don't have to worry about me. The border is only a couple of kilometers away. I'll be out of the country and away from him for good."

"You aren't walking alone. It isn't safe."

"Thank you for your concern, but really I'll be OK. You should go back to your hotel or where ever it is you are staying and get out of the country before you have a warrant out for your arrest."

"I'm walking with you." Bo said firmly offering her his arm.

"OK but then promise me you will find a way out of the country."

"I promise."

Carly followed them as they walked a few kilometers to the border slipping through during the darkest hours of the night, undetected by the border patrol, who had received copies of her picture and were told to prevent her from leaving. They found a small hotel a couple of kilometers past the border. Bo went in and checked the girl in under a false name. He escorted her up to her room and was about to leave when she spoke.

"Please, don't leave yet. Stay for a drink. It's the very least I can do to say thank you and it's a long walk back."

He turned to look at the young woman. Carly looked on as Bo walked into the room to accept a drink from the girl, shutting the door behind him.

Bo lifted the glass towards her younger self as Carly watched, mesmerized by the unfolding scene. She had absolutely no memory of this night beyond fleeing from the café and Lawrence. In fact, it was only after having spent some time with Bo in Salem that she connected him to her nameless savior.

What on earth is going on? She thought to herself.

Pay attention. You need to see this. Carly blinked in surprise as the orders pierced her already muddled brain. The words were not her own, and her head whipped around quickly, searching for their source. The empty hallway yawned before her lined with only closed doors.

The sound of Bo's laughter drew her attention back to the hotel room, and Carly saw Bo, still laughing at something she – Katerina – had said. Katerina poured another serving of the green liquid and Carly gasped in recognition.

"Absinthe," Carly muttered in sync with Katerina who was answering Bo's question of what they were drinking.

"I thought that stuff was banned," Bo eyed her skeptically.

Katerina gave him a mischievous grin. "It wasn't banned everywhere. This particular bottle came from a small town in Spain." She knocked backed another shot while the man across from her looked on in an odd mixture of shock and respect.

She filled her glass once more while he emptied his. "So what brings you here, vacation? Work?"

Bo took the bottle from her and poured the next round. "Neither, exactly. I'm kind of taking a world tour, you might say. What about you? What was all that about tonight? How'd a pretty, little thing like you get caught up with that asshole?"

Katerina shook her head, indicating she didn't really want to talk about it, but even as her mind protested, her mouth decided to take control. "His name is Lawrence Alamain, and he is – was – my fiance."

"He's older than you," Bo observed.

"So are you," Katerina shot back. Her emerald eyes strayed carelessly to his mouth, and she grew warm.

Bo cleared his throat. "Still, you're awfully young to be engaged."

Katerina snorted in a very un-ladylike manner, much to the amusement of her companion. "Tell that to my parents. They contracted the marriage while I was still in the cradle, and I mean that literally, by the way."

"What?" Bo seemed to be having a hard time keeping up, and from her stance at the door, Carly could see why. Bo and the girl she used to be had drained nearly half the bottle of absinthe, and he was starting to feel the effects. At the rate they were going, they'd both be on the floor in another half-hour.

"It was an arranged marriage. My parents made the match with Lawrence's family when I was born. He was ten at the time, I believe."

"So how long have you been with him?"

"I thought I was with someone else," Katerina whispered, anger creeping back up on her.

"You lost me, girly. What did he do to you?"

"He lied. I ran away from boarding school when I was 16 so I wouldn't have to go through with the marriage. I couldn't marry a man whom I didn't love, much less had never met. I didn't even know what he looked like." Bo blinked, clearly surprised, but then motioned for her to go on. "I met a man in Paris, who told me his name was James. It was love at first sight. He was everything I'd ever dreamed of in a man. He was handsome, charming and rich, but best of all he promised me that he'd keep me safe. He promised to protect me at all costs from Lawrence, and from my parents, who were searching everywhere for me."

"We were going to go to America so that I could finish my studies, but then I learned that James was really Lawrence. He had been watching me for two years, and he knew when I left my school. He tracked me to Paris where he introduced himself as James. The entire time he was planning on bringing me to his country, to force me into marriage, so that he could take control of my birthright."

"I'm sorry," Bo told her suddenly. Tears had once again filled her brilliant eyes, and Bo couldn't prevent his hand as it rose and caught the crystalline drop on his thumb. Katerina caught his hand with hers and held it to her cheek.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," she whispered. "I'm the one who was stupid enough to fall into Lawrence's trap."

"You aren't stupid," Bo insisted, angry that she would even think of herself that way. "You loved him, you said, and you trusted him. You just made a mistake, that's all. That makes you human, sweetheart, not stupid."

Their eyes locked, and the very air in the room crackled with electricity. Bo's hand cupped her cheek tighter, and Katerina was aware of every millimeter of his flesh against hers. Her mouth felt dry and in an effort to break away from the magnetic field of his eyes, she reached for the bottle of absinthe and drank straight from it. The action dislodged Bo's hand from her face, and he took the bottle from her, finishing the contents.

"Sweetheart, huh?" She gave him a little smile.

"Well, I don't exactly know your name," Bo told her.

"Do you want to?" Katerina asked, but Bo shook his head.

"Good," Katerina responded. "I don't want to know yours, either."

They drew closer to one another. Bo leaned in to catch her mouth with his, but he stopped just shy of his goal. "I should probably get out of here." His words tickled her lips.

"I should probably tell you to," she answered.

But he didn't leave, and she didn't tell him to. Instead, his arm slid around her slender waist as he fitted his mouth over hers. His hands fisted in her hair, freeing it from its clasp, as his mouth trailed fire down her graceful neck. She straddled his lap, wrapping her long legs around him and pressing against him in all the right places.

He groaned against her neck and palmed her breast through her shirt. Her shirt left her shoulders uncovered and he tugged down the material until both of her breasts were bared to his touch. He spared a second's thought as to her braless state before drawing a dusky nipple deep into his mouth.

Carly grabbed hold of the doorway, absolutely unable to believe what she was seeing. This is impossible! None of this is real, it can't be. If Bo and I had made love that night, I'd remember.

Would you? The mysterious voice was back, but Carly didn't bother looking for the speaker again.

I would, Carly insisted even as she watched Bo strip Katerina – her – and lay her back on the hotel bed.

You wouldn't be seeing this if it weren't of the utmost importance. Watch now, and remember.

Obediently, Carly turned back to the erotic tableau in front of her and sucked in a breath. Not only could she see what was happening, she could feel it. Her lips tingled with every brush of Bo's mouth over Katerina's. Wherever his hands trailed over her dream self's body, Carly felt the caresses on her own. Her heart began racing, her breath coming in shallow pants, until a white-hot burst of light momentarily blinded her.

When the light receded at last, Carly could once again see into the hotel room. Bo was sprawled on his stomach on the bed, the sheet pulled haphazardly up to his pelvis. He was facing the window, and Carly held her breath as Katerina awoke and took in her surroundings.

The seventeen year-old version of herself squeaked at the sight of a naked man's back and hastily rose from the bed. Bo must've been out because he didn't even flinch, his snoring deep and rhythmic.

Katerina pulled on her clothes and grabbed her bag, leaving the empty bottle of absinthe on the floor. She stumbled through the door of the hotel room, obviously still feeling the effects of the Absinthe as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Her only thought was getting out of there.

Carly backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. She was once again in that dark hallway. She leaned against the wall next to the door she had just closed and took a deep breath, still in shock from what she had just seen. How could I not remember him? Then she thought of the dreams. Ever since she had run away from Lawrence she had been having these dreams of a nameless, faceless man. The man in her dreams always had long hair and was fit and built but that was all she knew about him. That and he made her feel safe. But those had just been dreams.

Carly realized in that moment that she had been dreaming about Bo all these years, because of that night, the one night of her life she had never been able to remember. That explained the connection they had. It explained how she could have fallen for him so fast and so hard. Does he remember?

Carly took another deep breath and just stood there for a few minutes not sure she could continue after the shock of knowing that at age 17 she had slept with Bo, who was married, while his wife waited for him on their boat. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked down the seemingly endless hallway of doors. She pushed herself away from the wall she had been leaning on and continued her trip through her memories.


	10. Chapter 10

Lawrence slammed his phone down in disgust. 'I'm surrounded by imbeciles,' he muttered to himself. It had been two weeks since someone had taken his wife. Two weeks since she had mysteriously disappeared from her room. Whoever had taken her was definitely a professional. There had been no trace of either his wife or her kidnapper. They had managed to elude his guards, servants, staff, and security cameras, leaving only a note where his wife had been. If that weren't bad enough they had also managed to invade his private study and had taken a file that was of particular importance. He needed the papers in that file to keep order in his marriage.

What really disgusted him was that he had yet to find out who was behind the kidnapping. Even his best private investigator had been unable to find any trace of his wife or her abductor. Lawrence leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. If this hadn't been so well planned and executed he would have sworn that Bo Brady was behind all this.

'But,' he said aloud to the empty room, 'Bo Brady isn't smart enough to plan something like this, much less pull it off. Still, I should have one of my men check him out as a possibility.'

He picked up his phone and dialed one of his investigators, who was already in the states and told him to scour the small town of Salem for his wife and her former lover. After that phone call he went back to thinking about his wife and his marriage. To the outside world he was a widower, his wife tragically dying shortly after their wedding. No one understood why he had never remarried. He had played the grieving husband of a beautiful young woman he had adored. In reality his wife was very much alive if not exactly well. He didn't adore her but for some reason he had never been able to rid himself of her. She belonged to him, that much he had always made clear. She was a possession, nothing more.

He looked at the note the servant girl had found instead of his wife. "I have your wife. I know your secrets and will be in touch. Be prepared to pay dearly for them or the world will know all that you have done." He crumpled the note into a ball and angrily banged his fist down on the desk. He had to find out who had his wife and his papers. He had to find out who was to pay for crossing him.

Carly reluctantly continued down the hallway of memories. She wasn't sure she would be able to handle another shock. She still wasn't sure how much of that last memory was real. Had she really had a one night stand with Bo all those years ago? Before this little trip down memory lane, she couldn't tell you anything that had happened that night other than fleeing Lawrence and that café and waking up on a plane to Paris the next day.

"It happened." The disembodied voice told her firmly.

She looked both in front and behind her, but saw no one. She was alone in the long dark hallway. She finally stopped in front of a door that seemed to be calling to her. Carly reached out for the door handle but the door was swinging open before she had touched it. It was almost as though someone on the other side was waiting for her.

Carly stepped through the doorway and was immediately blinded by a burst of bright sunshine. She just stood there for a moment letting her eyes adjust to the sudden change in lighting. When she was finally able to focus she saw herself standing on a pier in Salem. She was wearing a bright yellow shirt, complete with shoulder pads, high-waisted brownish slacks, and her hair was flared out on the sides with nicely feathered bangs. She had been very stylish at the time but as Carly stood and looked at herself, at age 24, she cringed and shook her head all the while wondering what she had been thinking.

She was standing next to her friend, Dr. Marcus hunter, whom she had initiated into her world of environmental activism. As Carly moved closer to the scene unfolding before her, she was able to hear what was being said.

"What are you camera shy?" Marcus was asking her with a grin as a group of protesters moved farther down the pier.

"Uh, yeah." She answered shortly, not looking at Marcus.

"Alright," he said with amusement in his voice as he moved from behind to in front of her. "Well don't worry, I'll cover for ya."

"Oh, thanks babe," she answered, her voice carrying a hint of laughter.

"Hey, what are friends for?"

Marcus smiled at her and walked over to the protest rally as Carly clapped and cheered them on with a loud "Woo…Go get em. Tell em!"

Present day Carly watched as just at that moment Bo appeared and grabbed the arm of her dream self from behind, who then spun around with a scream as he yelled at her.

"What the hell's going on here?! What is this all about?!" He nodded his head towards the group down the pier.

For a moment the young woman couldn't answer and present day Carly thought back and remembered that while she had been startled by his sudden appearance and his grabbing her from behind, she had actually been temporarily rendered speechless by his gorgeous dark brown, soulful eyes.

Her younger self though quickly gathered her wits trying to pull her arm from his grasp, answered just as angrily.

"Let go of me."

"I'll let go of you when you tell me what the hell's going on over there." Again he motioned to the protest group with a nod of his head.

"Alright!" The younger Carly said managing to break free of the grip Bo had on her arm. She pushed a stray strand of hair from her face before continuing. "You heard about the plans for putting up an oil refinery in the area?" It was then that the present -day Carly notice that Bo was watching her lips as she spoke. Then he looked into her eyes, almost with a look of recognition, which was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Yeah, I heard about it. So?"

"So?! Some of us are not happy about it, OK. We're having a protest rally."

"Who is this "us and we" we're talking about here? Who the hell are you anyway?"

"I'm Dr. Carly Manning. I'm the new intern at University Hospital. Who are you?"

"I am ticked off."

Carly stepped back over the threshold into the hallway, the door shutting behind her. She couldn't help but smile to herself after reliving what she had thought was her first encounter with Bo. Obviously she was wrong, as her last memory had shown her. She amended that in her mind. It was her first SOBER encounter with Bo. She took a quick look over her shoulder, down the hallway where the memories she had relived and a few that she had chosen to skip, and continued forward where more memories waited for her.


	11. Chapter 11

"How is she?" Roman looked closely at his younger brother as he asked the question. "Any change?"

"Not that I can tell." Bo replied, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, man. It must be hard."

"Yeah. She's in there, Roman. I can feel her."

"Maybe you should let someone else come stay with her for a while."

"No. I'm staying with her until she wakes up and can move around on her own. I will protect her, Roman."

"Bo, you're exhausted. And staying here, with no sleep, worrying 24/7 isn't going to do Carly any good. You need to rest."

"Roman, I'm not going anywhere."

"OK. OK. But if you do need someone to stay with her, just let me know and I'm here."

"Thanks, but I have to be here when she wakes up."

"What if she doesn't wake up, Bo?"

Bo shook his head, refusing to think that way or entertain that train of thought.

"She will wake up, Roman. She will. I know it. I can feel it. I can feel her." Roman noticed that as his little brother said these words his hand had come to rest over his heart. And knew there was no point in pushing the subject any farther and changed the subject.

"Listen I got the papers for you to sign from Mickey." Roman reached through the open window of his car and pulled out a legal sized manila folder and handed it to Bo.

"Great, thanks man." Bo took the folder and quickly opened it pulling out three sets of legal documents. Each had little red flag stickers at various points in the papers indicating where he needed to sign. He felt around in his pockets for a minute before turning back to his brother. "Gotta pen?"

Roman reached through his car window again and retrieved a pen for his brother.

Bo nearly snatched the pen out of Roman's hand, and pulling the cap off with his teeth, he began signing everywhere Mickey had marked for him. When he had finished signing all three sets of documents he turned and held them and the pen out to Roman, who took them and laid them on the hood of his car before bending over and signing them as a witness. Roman then put all the paper's back into the manila folder and put the folder back in his car to deliver to Mickey the next day.

"Thanks for bringing those up here Roman."

"No problem, I think you're doing the right thing."

"Yeah? Why is that?"

"Ever since Hope took Ciara after the kidnapping, I have noticed things about her that I never noticed before."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Like her unwillingness to see anybody else's side but her own. The fact that she only seems to think about herself and getting what she wants."

Bo let out a snort of laughter. "I noticed those things a long time ago."

"Listen, before I go…"

"What?"

"Have you thought about when Carly wakes up?"

"That's all I think about, Roman."

"No, I mean the legal stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like, how are you going to get her divorced from Lawrence?"

"I've thought about that."

"Yeah, and?"

"I need to talk to a lawyer to figure out how to get the divorce going now. I'm going to call Frankie in a little while and see what he can dig up in the law books. I have to give him an update anyhow."

"I'm surprised he hasn't insisted on being here."

"He has. He keeps demanding to know where I'm hiding Carly, but I keep reminding him that Larry is probably watching him."

"Yeah, he probably is. I'm surprised he hasn't come looking for you yet."

"Oh, he'll look in Salem. But it will be more of him looking at me "just in case," Bo made air quotes at the last three words.

"Just in case?"

"Yeah. Larry has always thought I lacked in the brains department. Always thought he was smarter than me. So he has always underestimated me. He's probably thinking that there was no way that I, or anyone in Salem, could plan and pull off taking Carly the way we did."

"That's true. He did think a lot of himself didn't he."

"Yep. And my guess is that he has only gotten more arrogant and conceited over the years. Just keep your eyes open and let me know if anyone starts sniffing around."

"Will do, little brother. Listen, while you're taking care of that little lady in there, don't forget to take care of yourself too, OK."

"OK. We'll be fine. I'll call you in a couple of days."

"Alright. Later then little brother."

"Later."

Bo watched as his older brother got into his car and carefully backed down the narrow path to the main road before going back inside to sit at Carly's bedside.


	12. Chapter 12

Bo took a deep breath before picking up his cell phone and making the call he needed to make. After talking to his brother and then to Frankie the day before, he had weighed all his options and decided that, while not necessarily the best, he had chosen the only course of action he could take. He stepped outside to make the call that would get the ball rolling. He took another deep breath as he dialed the number.

"Judge Pless." The distinguished voice matched the man on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Your Honor. This is Commissioner Brady."

"Commissioner, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"I'm calling in that favor you owe me, Your Honor."

Judge Reginald Pless let out a deep sigh. "Mr. Brady, I think since we are "exchanging favors", we can call each other by our first names."

"Sir, please. This is very important and this will be the only thing I ever ask of you."

"I'm listening." The judge's interest was piqued by the tone of Bo Brady's voice. It was a pleading, almost desperate tone. It was the same tone that the police commissioner had no doubt heard in his own voice when his sixteen year old son, Michael was arrested for drunk driving the year before. Bo Brady had done him the favor of sweeping it all under the rug and making the charges go away, letting the Judge and his wife deal with their son.

"This is not something I can explain over the phone sir."

"Then what do you suggest, Mr. Brady?"

"Please call me Bo, sir. And could you come to me? It's a really sensitive situation and privacy is extremely important."

"And where is it I am to meet you, exactly." There was a knock at the judge's chamber door.

"That should be my brother, Roman, at your door sir. He's volunteered to bring you to where I am and then to take you back when we have finished our business."

"You're having me abducted!" The judge was outraged.

"No, sir," Bo said quickly. "It's just a very private place that only he and I know about and sending you directions could be far too complicated and could take far too long. It is entirely up to you if you come or not. But I am begging you to please come."

The judge contemplated what Bo was telling him. "Fine, I'll come to you."

"Thank you, sir. Thank you very much."

"Save your thanks, Mr. Brady. I still have to hear what you want from me." The judge hung up the phone as the knock at his door sounded again. "Come In!" He barked.

An hour and a half later Roman's light green 1994 Ford Taurus pulled into view. Bo grinned and shook his head at his older brother's refusal to get rid of that old clunker and get something more up to date. Bo walked over to the car as Roman and Judge Pless got out of the car.

"Thank you for coming, Your Honor." Bo said as he reached out his right hand to shake the judge's. The judge looked at him for a moment before giving his hand a grudging shake.

"Why am I here, Mr. Brady? What is it you want me to do?"

"Well, Your Honor, the reason I asked you to come here is one, for privacy. No one knows about this place. And two, because I thought showing instead of just telling you might help."

"Showing me what?"

"I'm not showing you a what, I'm showing you a who. Please come with me." Bo walked slowly over to the front door of the cabin, followed by Roman and the Judge. Bo opened the door and walked inside. "Please come in."

The judge walked in and looked around the small, rustic cabin. To his right, one wall was taken up by a large stone fireplace that was blazing merrily, keeping the room warm. To his left was a small kitchenette with a scrubbed wooden table, big enough for four at the most. And against the center of the back wall was a single double bed. In that bed was a woman. She seemed to be sleeping but then the judge saw the IV pole, with bags of fluids hanging from it over the her right. The woman didn't move as they entered.

"No change?" Roman said quietly looking at Carly. This was the first time he had seen her since the ISA operative had brought her onto John's plane.

Bo just shook his head silently, looking down at the floor and letting out a heavy sigh. It was getting harder and harder to hold onto any hope that she would wake up.

"Tell me what this is all about." Judge Pless said in a somber tone as he looked at the woman in the bed. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Carly Manning. She is my ex-fiance and she needs your help." Bo answered.

"Bo, I'm going to wait outside." Roman could see how difficult this was for Bo and he also knew his brother would want to discuss this privately with the judge. Bo nodded in thanks and Roman stepped outside into the cool early September air.

"And how can I help her?" The judge said once the door had shut. He had not yet taken his eyes off of Carly.

"She's been unconscious for at least two weeks now." Bo said moving closer to the bed, but not answering the judge's question.

"What happened to her and why is she out here in the middle of nowhere and not in a hospital."

"Her husband," was the only reply from Bo, his voice dropping to a very low, menacing tone.

The judge looked at Bo in surprise at the tone of voice, his gaze finally leaving Carly. "Her husband?"

"You asked what happened to her and why she is here and not in a hospital."

"Yes…"

"Both answers are the same. Her husband."

"I don't understand."

"16 years ago, she and I were engaged. She left me, when her ex-boyfriend told her he was taking their son and moving to Europe. He told her she could either stay here and marry me, or she could come go with them and be a mother. You see after she had her son, she got sick, and when we tried to start a family the doctor told her she couldn't have any more kids. So she chose to be a mother. She left me and married her son's father. Not because she loved him but because she wanted to be part of her son's life." Bo was standing next to the bed now, looking down at Carly.

"I should have gone after her. I should have fought for her. Things would have been so different." He looked up and saw the judge watching him and waiting for the reason he had been brought to this cabin in the woods.

"You asked what happened to her." The judge nodded. "Well about three weeks ago I got a letter from Carly. It's the first time I've heard from her in 16 years. I could tell you what was in the letter but, I think it's better if you read it for yourself."

Bo walked over to a carved wooden trunk that was sitting in the back corner of the wall with the fire place. He opened it slowly and reached in, removing the letter the messenger had handed him that day three weeks before. The letter that had changed his life forever. Taking a deep breath, Bo closed the trunk and walked over to the judge holding out the letter.

The judge reached out and took the letter, then walked over and sat at the small wooden table as he unfolded the heavy linen paper and began to read.

A couple of minutes later the judge looked up at Bo in complete shock. He stood up and walked to the end of the bed and looked at Carly. "Have you confirmed everything she said in this letter?" Pless asked as he stared at the motionless woman.

"Yes. My brother-in-law has confirmed it using his contacts at the ISA. Everything in that letter is true." Bo said with a tinge of rage in his voice.

"What is it you want me to do to help her?"

"Since she isn't able to do it herself, I'm asking that you grant her a divorce."

"On what grounds? And how do you know she would want a divorce?"

"I know because she spent the last 16 years trying to figure out how to smuggle a letter to me asking for my help. You asked earlier what happened to her. Her husband beat her into unconsciousness. According to the Doctor who treated her when we went and got her, she was lucky to be alive. She had a massive concussion, every rib was broken, and she's malnourished. I think those are grounds enough to get her a divorce. You asked why she isn't in a hospital. She's not safe in a hospital."

The judge listened to Bo. He could hear the conviction in the other man's voice. He looked back at the woman in the bed. She was a beautiful woman, and other than the IV pole and the fact that she hadn't moved since he had entered the room you couldn't tell that she had been through hell. Bo continued to explain why he needed to grant this woman a divorce and why it had to be done in a way that her husband wouldn't find out until after it was over. The judge could hear more than conviction in the commissioner's voice. He heard passion, worry, and most of all he heard a man who was in love.

"If I push this divorce through," The judge said looking up at Bo. "Then we are even. No more calling in of favors and we never speak of either of our situations again, right?"

"Right. Completely even and everything is forgotten."

The judge looked at Carly once more then sighed and turned reaching his hand out to Bo. "You have a deal Mr. Brady."

Bo shook the judge's hand with an audible sigh of relief. "Please don't tell anyone she's here. It would likely be fatal for her if anyone finds out she's here."

"You have my word."

Bo watched as the judge walked out of the cabin into the early evening air. A couple of minutes later he heard Roman's car pulling away. He walked over and sat down next to Carly, taking her hand in his.

"I found a way, Princess. You're going to be divorced from that S.O.B. Then you and I are going to have the happy life we had stolen from us. I promise you that, Princess." Bo brought Carly's hand to his lips and kissed it gently, silently praying to any god that would listen that she would wake soon.


	13. Chapter 13

Carly walked down the hallway for a little while, again skipping many doors. She stopped briefly at one and looked in at herself crawling through a small tunnel in an effort to get too little Shawn-Douglas, who had fallen into a well shaft. After observing the scenes for a moment, Carly moved on. After skipping countless numbers of doors she finally stopped in front of a door that seemed to beacon to her. As she reached for the door handle she felt her heart beat speed up and a fluttering in her stomach. She held her breath as she pushed open the door. Carly released the breath she was holding as she recognized what she was seeing. Her face broke into a small smile as she looked in on one of the moments of her life that she would never forget.

Bo and Carly were in a garden. The night air was warm and still. She was wearing a red blouse and tan slacks. The others had just dispersed and left her and Bo alone. She had her back to him and was moving back toward the house when he spoke.

"Carly? What's got you so jumpy?"

"I think we're all a little nervous, Bo. We all came here for different reasons. I just…hope everyone gets what they want."

"Oh, we will. It's a bunch of good people working after the same thing. We'll get what we want."

Carly turned around to face Bo, her eyes alternating between glances at his face and looking down at the ground.

"Do you mean me too?" she said softly.

"Well, of course I do." Bo said a look of surprise on his face that she would ask such a question. "Julie and Shane and…and Kayla, they're here all by themselves. I'm not." Bo looked deep into her eyes as he said this with a shake of his head.

"You're not?" Carly raised her eyebrows as she said this, unconsciously mimicking Bo's shake of the head.

"No. I've got you."

"I don't know what to say to you."

"You don't have to say anything." Bo said with a boyishly charming, hopeful, yet almost nervous little smile. "I said it all. I just wanted you to know how I felt."

Carly looked at him for a moment then whispered his name as she raised her left hand to touch his bearded cheek. Bo's left hand reached up, and taking hold of her wrist he moved her hand just enough so he could press his lips to her palm, never once removing his gaze from her face. Bo then moved up close to Carly, keeping his eyes locked with hers, he gently wrapped his left arm around her slender waist while placing his right hand on her cheek. Bo pulled Carly close to him and leaned his head down and softly fitted his lips over hers in a sweet, tender kiss.

Carly turned and walked back into the hallway, closing the door behind her. With a contented sigh she looked each way before continuing down the hall. That was the first time Bo had kissed her.

"It wasn't the first kiss." The voice said as she walked.

"I thought it was." Carly replied.

Then from nowhere Carly heard another voice. She couldn't tell what this one was saying, it was just a murmur, but it was soothing.

Carly walked up to a door only a few feet from the last one and opened the door. The scene she saw was as different from the last one as a horse is different from a goldfish. She was dressed in a sequined, blue formal gown and Bo was holding onto her. But this time he had her turned to face Lawrence and Jennifer, and he was holding a gun to her head.

Carly quickly shut the door on the unpleasant memory, and with trepidation continued down the hall. After passing a couple of doors, she stopped at another one that seemed to call to her. Before she could open the door she once again heard that indistinct voice. It seemed to be coming from all around her, yet at the same time it was deep but soft and comforting. She took a deep breath and reached for the door. Left hand poised on the handle of the door, she felt a quick, tingling sensation on the back of her right hand.

Bo's mouth moved silently against Carly's hand.

Please, just help her.

Bring her back to me.

Let her be all right.

I can face anything as long as she's OK.

Bo opened his eyes, hastily wiping at his gathering tears. "Somehow, Princess, someway, I'll bring you back. We have a lot left to do so just summon up that iron will of yours and come back to me." He didn't move from his spot at her side. He just held her hand, tracing whimsical patterns onto the soft skin there. And as he watched her face, still so beautiful, her dark lashes began to flutter.

Carly opened the door slowly, not sure what she would find on the other side. She was looking into a dark tunnel. Inside the tunnel were four people, herself, Frankie, Jennifer, and Jack, who were all shifting rock trying to find a way out.

"Carly? Carly can you hear me?" A voice called out. It was the second voice she had been hearing but this time it was clear and crisp. She turned to look behind her and saw nothing but the dark empty hallway. Just then she heard a rumble and turned back to look at her memory just as the tunnel collapsed around the people in it.

"Carly can you hear me?" Bo repeated as he watched her. After the fluttering of her eyelids had started, she began to move her head slightly, as though she was having an unpleasant dream. As he said this he felt her fingers twitch against his hand.

"NO!" Carly screamed as her eyes flew open and she bolted upright into a sitting position.

Bo sighed in relief. After two weeks his princess was awake.


	14. Chapter 14

"Carly can you hear me?" Bo repeated as he watched her. After the fluttering of her eyelids had started, she began to move her head slightly, as though she was having an unpleasant dream. As he said this he felt her fingers twitch against his hand.

"NO!" Carly screamed as her eyes flew open and she bolted upright into a sitting position.

Bo sighed in relief. After two weeks his princess was awake.

Not sure how i Like this...but here it is anyways. Comment cause i will not accept Titter comments just saying...except for one person and she knows who she is. smiley: happy

"Carly can you hear me?" Bo repeated as he watched her. After the fluttering of her eyelids had started, she began to move her head slightly, as though she was having an unpleasant dream. As he said this he felt her fingers twitch against his hand.

"NO!" Carly screamed as her eyes flew open and she bolted upright into a sitting position. She looked around wildly trying to figure out where she was, but her eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything. Everything was blurred. She could only discern shapes and light.

Carly tried to take a deep breath to calm herself and was rewarded with nothing more than severe pain in and around her sides. It felt as if someone had place an iron corset around her and was tightening it until she couldn't breathe. At the same time she had a pounding headache and tried to fight back the sudden need to vomit.

After a moment she felt a hand on her shoulder, trying to gently push her back down into a lying position. She turned her head to see who it was but could only tell that it was a man. She couldn't make out his face. But as it was she was too weak to fight him as he gently but firmly made her lay back down. As she lay back against the pillows she felt the sensation of having the air squeezed out of her subside.

"Carly?" Bo said her name, almost in disbelief that she was awake and he was looking into her brilliant emerald eyes again.

"Bo?" Carly said trying to focus on him. She knew his voice. "Bo, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." His voice was full of relief. "How do you feel, Princess?"

"I feel like I've been hit with a ton of rocks."

"I'm not surprised. Marcus said you have a severe concussion and that every one of your ribs is broken or cracked." Bo was getting a bit worried by the fact that Carly's eyes didn't seem to focus on anything

"Why are you here?"

"I brought you here to take care of you."

"Where are we?"

"We're at the cabin." Bo knew something was wrong when she asked where they were.

"Cabin? What Cabin? I don't understand." A few tears gathered in her eyes. She was getting scared that she couldn't focus on anything and that Bo was talking as though she should know where they were.

"What don't you understand, Princess? We're at the cabin in the mountains above Salem?"

"I don't know what cabin you are talking about. And I don't understand why you are taking care of me." The tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Why wouldn't I take care of you, Carly?" Bo reached up and tenderly brushed her tears away.

"Because you hate me. Don't tell me you don't Bo, because I know you do."

"Why on earth would you think I hate you?"

"Oh, I don't know, Bo, I just don't see it as a declaration of love or friendship when people put a gun to my head."

"Carly what are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend you don't know or remember that you held a gun to my head at Leopold's party. Now everyone knows that I'm Katerina. You made it clear that you hated me so why are you acting like you care that I was hurt in that damned tunnel under Lawrence's villa."

Bo felt as though all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room as he listened to Carly talk.

"Carly, what's the last thing you remember?"

"The tunnel that Francois, Jennifer, Jack, and I were in collapsed." Panic flooded her features as she said this. "Francois and Jennifer, where are they?"

"They're fine, Carly" Bo said quickly. "Other than some bumps and bruises they got out fine." He watched as she visibly calmed as he said that. What really worried him was that the last thing she remembered had happened almost 20 years ago. He decided at once not to say anything about how much time had passed or about the things she didn't remember.

"I'm sorry about what I did at that party. I was angry when I found out you lied to me, but I could never hate you Carly. I don't know why, but since the moment I met you on my pier, I've felt connected to you."

"Can I ask you something, Bo?"

"Of course, you can ask me anything."

" It may sound strange but do you remember when you saved me from Lawrence in that café?"

"Yeah I remember. Why?"

"What do you remember about that night?"

"Honestly, not very much. I remember walking into the café, seeing him grab you and me and him fighting." Bo faltered for a minute thinking back to that night. "I really don't remember anything after that. The rest of the night is a blank for me, I just know I woke up the next morning in a room at a hotel just across the border and had no clue how I got there."

Carly was silent as he said this. How am I going to tell him about that night? How am I going to explain what happened? Just then another thought dawned on Carly. The baby I lost, what if he was Bo's? As she thought this another tear fell from her eye and down her cheek.

"Carly? What's wrong? Why are you asking about that night?"

"Nothing's wrong. I was just curious that's all." She smiled at the vague shape she knew to be Bo, sitting next to her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now back to why are we at this cabin and why you are taking care of me. Why am I not in a hospital with doctors?"

"Well, we thought it would be safer to bring you here and let me take care of you."

"We?"

"Yeah…uh…me and Marcus, Roman, Shane, Frankie, Abe, and Justin." He left out John because he wasn't sure how he would explain that, seeing as far as she was concerned the man she knew as Roman was John.

"Shane? What's he got to do with this? He does hate me."

"No he doesn't. He just didn't trust you. But now he knows who you are and why you lied to everyone. He helped me bring you here and arranged for all the medications and stuff you needed."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do I need to be hidden?"

"Well we thought we should hide you away from Lawrence while you were recovering."

"You think he'll come after me?"

"Well he did manage to find you in Salem and pulled off this whole thing. Kept your brother hostage to get you to cooperate, I wouldn't put anything past him at this point."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For keeping me safe and for taking care of me. For not hating me because I lied to you. Thank you for being you and for caring about me."

Bo couldn't tell her that he did more than care about her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her but he knew it wasn't the right time.

"You're welcome, princess. Now you listen to me. Close those pretty eyes and get some sleep. I am gonna go call Marcus and your brother and let them know you're awake. And then I'm gonna call a Doctor to come up here and check you over."

"You don't need to call a doctor out here." Carly protested at once.

"Carly, I know you're stubborn but so am I. You've been unconscious for two weeks now so yes I am calling someone to make sure you are OK I'm gonna have them check your eyes too because I know you can't focus or see me."

"How did you know?" she asked quietly.

"Because you couldn't recognize me until I talked to you and I've been watching your eyes ever since you woke up and they haven't focused on anything."

Carly knew arguing with Bo wouldn't do her any good so she just nodded and closed her eyes, wondering as she drifted off to sleep if she would be reliving anymore of her memories.


	15. Chapter 15

Roman was sitting at his desk finishing up some paperwork on a case they had closed and fervently wishing his little brother would come take his job back. Just then his cell phone started playing "Back in Black" by AC/DC. He picked up the phone and answered it, not noticing the person lurking just outside the door to his office, which was opened just a crack.

"Hey, little brother, what's up?"

Bo's voice answered in an excited tone.

"She's awake, Roman. She's awake."

"That's great, Bo. Did you find out…"

"She doesn't remember, Roman."

"Doesn't remember? Doesn't remember what? The letter?"

"She doesn't remember anything from the last 20 years."

"What?!" Roman's voice was tinged with shock. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. The last thing she remembers is being in the tunnel beneath Larry's villa all those years ago. It was before you came back and we all thought John was you. It was just after her 25th birthday."

"Damn, Bo. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I don't want to freak her out by telling her that she's missing 20 years of her life."

"I can understand that."

"But at the same time I don't think I can keep it from her. You know how smart she is."

"Well how is she feeling? Other than the memory loss?"

"She had a severe concussion and broken ribs, Roman, how do you think she feels?"

"You don't have to bite my head off."

"I'm sorry, it's just I don't know how I'm gonna handle this. I love her, Roman, and she doesn't remember any of it."

"Any of what?"

"Any of it. She doesn't remember how much we loved each other, or how hard we fought just to be together. She doesn't remember our relationship. When she woke up she thought I hated her."

"Why did she think that?"

"Because just before Larry trapped us all under that damned villa, I found out that she had lied to me about who she was and I kind of held a gun to her head and made her admit it in front of everyone."

"That would be a good reason."

"Yeah, I know, I was angry and I lost my temper. But it was just because I had admitted to myself that I was falling in love with her and she lied to me."

"You and that temper. What did you tell her?"

"I told her that I was angry but that I didn't hate her. And that I wasn't angry anymore."

"Maybe you should call Marlena. Ask her how you should handle this."

"Yeah maybe, but right now I need to get her checked out by a doctor, and Marcus can't get back right now."

"Then who?"

"Could you bring Daniel up here?"

"Yeah, man, no problem. What should I tell him?"

"Just tell him you have a friend that needs a doctor and she can't get to the hospital right now."

"Yeah, OK. I'll take care of it."

"And make sure you keep an eye out for any of Larry's goons."

"I will. No one has been sniffing around so far as I can tell."

"Yeah, well just keep an eye out. Cause you know they will be like Victor's hire guns, slippery as an eel."

"I'll keep my eyes open. Oh by the way, I have an official looking envelope from the family court here with your name on it. Should I bring it along?"

"The final divorce decree?"

"Maybe, I haven't opened it. That would be a federal offense you know."

"Don't be such a smart ass. It has to be that. Or it could be something about Carly's divorce."

"I hadn't thought of that. I'll bring it along."

"Thanks, Roman. For everything."

"No thanks needed, little brother."

"Still thanks."

"You're welcome."

"OK so you go get Daniel, and I am gonna call Frankie and Marcus and the others and let them all know she is awake. Oh yeah, tell Daniel he will also need to bring something to check Carly's eyes with."

"What's wrong with her eyes?"

"She can't focus. I think she sees something but not sure what. She only recognized me by my voice after she woke up, she couldn't actually see me."

"Wow. OK I'll let him know. Anything else?"

"Not right now, man. See ya later."

"Yeah. See ya later, little brother."

Roman hung up his phone and took a deep breath, releasing it with a sigh. He quickly organized the various piles of papers on his desk into their respective piles, according to how urgently they needed to be handled, grabbed the envelope from the family court and his jacket and left for the hospital to find and abduct Daniel Jonas.

As Roman left his office he didn't notice the form of the person that had been standing at his door listening to his end of his conversation with Bo. She had been about to knock on the door when she had heard the phone ring and him answer with "little brother" identifying the caller as Bo. But it was really when she heard Roman saying something about a "she" that Hope had really begun to pay attention.

Who were they talking about and what was HER husband doing hiding out somewhere with another woman? Never mind that Hope had also received the decree from family court stating that she and Bo were now divorced and had joint custody of their daughter, Ciara. Bo belonged to her, he always had and he always will. Hope shrank back into the shadows, being as thin as she was had its advantages, when she heard Roman getting ready to leave. There was only going to be one way to find Bo, and that would be to follow the only person, it seems, that knew where he was.

Hope waited a moment after Roman passed her, without noticing her, before she followed. She knew that although she was only a detective, and not even a great one at that, the one skill she did have was following people without being seen and that was exactly what she planned on doing.


	16. Chapter 16

Bo walked back into the room to find Carly struggling to get out of the bed.

"Whoa there, Princess." He said as he rushed to her side and gently but firmly pushed her back down onto the bed. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"I don't know." She had awakened in the silence that the mountain cabin offered. She had also in that moment forgotten that she was not there alone and that Bo had been right outside. She still didn't quite understand when or why he had forgiven her for manipulating him into going to Lawrence's villa and for lying to him.

"Carly, why are you trying to go anywhere? You can't see and you can barely move."

"I can't stand just lying here. What are you laughing at?" She asked crossly as she heard Bo chuckling.

"Nothing. I just knew that the minute you woke up you would be trying to get up and go."

"You did? You make it sound like you really know me. The real me."

Bo heaved a sigh knowing that he was going to have to tell her about the 20 years that have passed since that tunnel collapsed. After ending his call with Roman he had called Marcus, Frankie, Shane, Justin, Abe and then John. After telling John that Carly was finally awake he had asked if John told his wife, Marlena, about them rescuing Carly from Larry's. When John confirmed that he had indeed told Marlena, and assured Bo that she would not tell anyone else, Bo had requested to speak to his former sister-in-law, and one of his closest friends.

When Marlena picked up the phone Bo explained the situation to her and asked her advice, as a psychiatrist, how he should handle telling Carly that it was no longer November of 1990 but it was instead September of 2009.

"I do know you, Carly." He noticed her open her mouth to speak and continued before she could say anything. "I know that you are beautiful, smart, kind, generous, warm, caring, funny, big-hearted, loyal, independent, and really stubborn." He laughed slightly with the last few words.

"Oh, really? And how is it you think you know these things about me, Bo Brady? It wasn't a few hours before that tunnel collapsed that you said you didn't know me at all, that everything about me was a lie. You said I was unconscious for two weeks, so how is it you have learned these things about me since then?"

"That is what we need to talk about before Roman gets here with the doctor."

"Is he bringing Marcus?"

"No, not Marcus, another doctor, but that isn't really important right now. What is important is what I need to tell you."

"This sounds serious."

"It is serious. Very serious." The tone of his voice was somber and quiet. It was a tone that she had only ever heard when at a funeral. It was a tone that scared her. Bo must have noticed something in the expression on her face because he quickly changed his tone so it wasn't as sitting-at-a-person's-death-bed sounding. "I need to talk to you about how I know you so well."

"OK." She sounded slightly relieved at his change of tone. "But first…"

"What?" Bo watched her face and the expression he saw took his mind back to the first time they had come to the cabin. It was the same expression she had then, when her finger had stiffened from the cold and she wasn't able to unbutton her blouse and had to ask him for help even though she didn't want to ask. He knew she wanted him to help her with something but she didn't want to ask.

Finally she said, "Can you help me sit up?"

"Oh, yeah, of course." He leaned over her a bit and gently slid his right arm under her shoulders and slowly lifted her upper body. With his free left hand he arranged the pillows so they would be able to support her sitting up. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"No, I'm alright."

After he arranged the pillows he replaced his right arm so that her upper body was being held up by his left arm and he slid his right arm under her knees and lifting her a couple of inches off the bed, he shifted her towards the headboard and set her back down so that she was sitting with her back and shoulders against the pillows.

"How's that, Princess?"

"Perfect."

"Good. Do you need anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"No. I'm fine. Why don't you tell me whatever it is that you need to tell me."

"I am going to tell you. I was just…"

"You were just stalling."

"Yeah, I was."

"Why?"

"Because what we need to talk about is going to be hard for me to tell you. And it's probably hard for you to believe."

"Well, I don't think it will get any easier for you to tell me or any more believable if you keep stalling."

"No it won't. OK first things first, you say the last thing you remember is being in the tunnel under Lawrence's villa with Jack, Jennifer, and Frankie when the tunnel collapsed?"

"Yes. That is the last thing I remember before I woke up here a little while ago."

"So do you know the date?"

"Not the exact date, no."

"Try giving me a rough estimate of the date."

"OK. Um…well let's see. The party was on November 15th, and you said I was unconscious for two weeks so I guess it is around December 1st?"

"Give me the full date."

If she had been able to focus her eyes and see him clearly she would be looking at Bo as though he had grown a second head. As it was she had that look on her face but she could only point it in his general direction.

"OK. December 1st. 1990."

"This is going to be hard."

"Why? If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. You said a rough guess."

"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean it won't be hard to tell you the actual date."

"Why? What is the actual date?" She heard Bo take in a deep breath and let it out slowly before talking.

"OK, now don't freak out on me, but today is actually September 10th, 2009."

Bo watched Carly's face for her reaction as he told her that 19 years had actually passed since her last memory had happened. He was waiting for her to freak out, but she didn't. In fact she didn't react at all. She didn't move or speak or even look in his general direction. Her lack of reaction worried him.

Carly just sat there blankly staring with her unfocused eyes at the last vestiges of sunlight coming through the window of the door. She had heard Bo say the date but her brain seemed to have come to a complete halt with his words.

Finally after sitting in silence for about five minutes, Bo could see by the expression on her face that the date he had given her had sunken in. She turned her emerald eyes in his general direction and he saw a single tear fall, leaving a trail down her left cheek.

"Please, tell me how that's possible. You said I've only been unconscious for two weeks." Her voice was barely a whisper as she said this. The quiet quality of her voice and the tears in her eyes were almost pleading with him to tell her it wasn't really true.

"I'll tell you what I can. I only know some of what happened in those years and not all of it. Where would you like me to start?"

"Start with the last thing I remember."

"OK. Well I know you managed to find a way out of the tunnel. You found your way back to where, Julie and I were with Mrs. Horton. We were down there for a few days. Um… eventually Roman showed up and got the authorities to help get us all out."

"And everyone got out alright?"

"Well, while we were down there, Mrs. H had a heart attack, but you helped her through it. Leopold came down with Roman to help dig us out, but some of the loose rock came down on him. He died in the hospital the next day. Other than that everyone was pretty much OK. We all came back to Salem."

"OK. Then what?"


	17. Chapter 17

Roman drove straight to the hospital to look for Daniel Jonas. He walked up to the nurse's station where Maxine was showing Melanie Layton how to fill out some paper work.

"Afternoon Ladies."

"Hello Commander Brady, What can we do for you?" Maxine said as she and Melanie looked up from the paperwork. Hope, just within earshot, peaked around the corner watching Roman.

"I'm looking for Daniel Jonas."

"He's just finished with a surgery. He should be out of Post-Op in a few minutes." Maxine informed Roman.

"Great. I'm just going to wait for him over there. If you see him let him know I need to talk with him as soon as possible."

"Of Course."

"Thanks." Roman walked over to the blue plastic chairs that lined the walls of the waiting area and sat down, hoping that Daniel wouldn't be too long.

Hope ducked back around the corner and waited also. She was burning with curiosity as to why Roman needed Daniel and what he had to do with whoever this woman with Bo was.

Roman watched as Maxine took Melanie and their paperwork and left the nurse's station. Just as they disappeared around the corner opposite to the one Hope was hiding behind Roman heard the ding of the elevator and looked over just in time to see the doors open and Daniel Jonas step out.

"Daniel!" Roman called as he stood and waived Daniel over.

"Hey, Roman. What's up?"

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"Shoot."

"Well it's really a favor to Bo."

"OK. What is it?"

"Well you see it's hard to explain."

"Don't think I like the sound of that."

"Don't worry it's nothing bad, it's just a very sensitive and complicated situation."

"Roman, it's been a really long day, so can you just tell me already."

"OK. Here's the deal." Roman lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Daniel. "Bo has been taking care of a…friend. And now he needs a doctor to come check her over."

Daniel was intrigued by the secrecy that Roman was hinting at with his tone and body language. And his curiosity was more than piqued when Roman said that Bo's 'friend' was a her.

"So he wants me to make a house call?"

"Yeah. Sort of. He wants me to bring you to where they are."

"Why are you whispering and why all this cloak and dagger stuff."

"Because it can mean the difference between life or death for her. Just trust me on that one."

"OK."

"Bo just asked me to bring you out to check her over."

"Why me?"

"Honestly because he thinks you will be able to keep this quiet and I think it is because you don't have any history with her."

"OK. I'll need to grab my medical bag from my car."

"Yeah. Oh and Bo asked me to let you know you will need to bring something to check her eyes with."

"Check her eyes? For what?"

"From what he told me she can't see."

"She's blind?"

"Not exactly. She can see light, shadow, that type of stuff. But she can't focus her eyes."

"What exactly is wrong with this woman?"

Roman looked around before answering in a whisper so low that Daniel barely heard him.

"Her husband beat the crap out of her. She's been unconscious for two weeks and she woke up today. That's why Bo needs a doctor to come look at her. No one can know where they are or her husband could find them."

Daniel took one look at Roman's face and gave a quick nod of acceptance and understanding. He knew Roman was being truthful about the abusive husband if nothing else.

"OK then, let me sign out and we can stop by my car to get my bag and be on our way."

"Great thanks man."

As Daniel walked over to the computer at the Nurse's station to sign out, Hope turned to go back to her car and wait for them to leave so she could follow them. She had missed almost the entire conversation because Roman and Daniel had been whispering and she was too far away to be able to hear. When she turned around she was Face to Face with Lexie Carver and her Aunt Maggie.

"Hope!" Maggie Horton exclaimed upon seeing her niece. "I'm glad you're here."

"Hi Aunt Maggie. Hi Lexie."

Roman had looked up when he heard Maggie call Hope's name and walked across the waiting room so he could look around the corner. When he was able to see around the corner he saw Hope standing close enough to where he and Daniel had been to be within earshot and was very glad he had been whispering. He could also tell by the way Hope was looking around that she was trying to figure out how to get away from her aunt and her best friend and he had to wonder why.

"We need to talk to you about the benefit for Autism awareness." He heard Lexie say. "you said you wanted to help, right?"

"Yes, of course I do, Lexie." Hope began.

"Great, because Maggie and I had some wonderful ideas." Lexie said cutting off Hope's attempt to continue speaking.

Roman almost had to laugh at the way Lexie was plowing over every effort Hope made to talk because that was what Hope usually did to everyone she was in contact with. Roman had noticed a while back that every time Hope was part of a conversation she took over whatever topic they were discussing and made it all about her. She plowed over everyone's attempts to say anything and if they were actually talking she would just talk over them. So it amused him to see Lexie doing that same thing to Hope.

"Come with us dear," Maggie said to Hope. "Lexie and I were just going to sit down over a cup of tea and discuss the benefit."

Lexie linked her arm with Hope's and led her friend and Maggie right past Roman towards the elevators. Hope pretended to be thrilled at the prospect of tea in the hospital cafeteria as she walked by Roman, hoping he hadn't figured out that she had been following them. Unfortunately by the time Hope managed to extricate herself from Lexie and Maggie, a half hour had passed and Roman and Daniel were long gone.


	18. Chapter 18

***DISCLAIMER*** I am not a doctor and know very little about medicine. I have never had broken ribs, head trauma, or eye problems. This is made up so don't pick at any inaccuracies because...well yeah...i made it all up so hope you like and as always leave comments.

"OK, then what?" Carly asked again.

Bo just sat, gazing at Carly and trying to collect his thoughts. Marlena had warned him not to tell her too much at one time. He didn't want to overwhelm her. But just thinking about the three short years they were together was overwhelming. So much had happened. How would he explain the heartbreak he had caused her? How would he tell her about all they went through to be together? How could he put the intensity and the depth of their relationship into words? He felt his face flush at the very thought of the physical relationship they had shared, but that paled in comparison to the emotional and spiritual connection they had. It was a connection he had felt since their first meeting on the pier all those years ago.

Bo tried to force his mind back to the present but his head was only filled with more questions. How would he explain her marriage to Victor? How was he going to tell her that she ended their engagement in order to go back to Lawrence? Not to mention trying to tell her about the things Vivian had done. How would he tell her about Nicholas? As far as she knew in this moment the child she had shared with Lawrence died shortly after his birth. How do you fill someone in on the last 20 years of their own life?

"BO?!" Carly's voice broke through his reverie.

"Sorry. What?"

"I asked what happened after we came back to Salem."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Princess, I was trying to pull my thoughts together."

"Why? What happened in the last 20 years that you have to 'pull your thoughts together'?

"Well, Carly, 20 years is a lot of time to go over. And like I said I only know some of it, not all."

Carly couldn't see it but a big grin spread across Bo's face as she swung her verdant gaze in his direction. She wasn't aware of the joy that he was feeling as he looked into those gorgeous eyes again.

"You know what, Princess, why don't I fix us something to eat and we can talk about it later."

Before Carly could answer Bo had jumped up from his chair and headed over to the little kitchenette, wishing he had told Roman to bring them some real food. He busied himself with finding and fixing them some dinner. In order to keep Carly from questioning him he turned on the small radio he had brought up with him.

Carly decided not to push Bo. Instead she sat, propped up against the pillows and listened to the radio that Bo had turned on and the sounds of him making dinner.

"OK, Roman. What's the deal?"

"Deal?"

"Tell me what's going on, Roman. I came with you because I know that whatever is going on, you wouldn't be involved if it were illegal. And I understand that you didn't want to talk about it in public. But now that we're alone, I want to know what am I getting myself into?"

Roman took a deep breath. He knew that Daniel wasn't being unreasonable. Especially since Roman was driving him into the woods that were up in the mountains just north of Salem.

"OK. But what I tell you goes no further than us."

"No problem. It's part of my job description to keep confidences."

"That applies to your patients, not to me or Bo."

"Well, I am coming with you as a doctor, to see a patient and so I see this as doctor-patient privileged."

"Alright. The woman you are going to see is named Carly Manning. Ever hear that name before?"

"No."

"She's Bo's ex-fiance."

"Bo was with someone before Hope? I thought they were each others first love."

"They were. It happened 20 years ago. Hope was abducted by a man named Ernesto Toscano. He faked her death. I wasn't there at the time but from everything I was told after the fact; Bo was devastated when he thought Hope had died."

"Where were you?"

"That is a long story that we can leave for another time."

"OK. So Bo thought Hope had died…" Daniel prompted.

"Yeah, anyway at about the same time Carly Manning came to town. Again, I wasn't there, but from what I've heard they argued a lot at first but they got really close. Ma told me that they seemed to have a connection from the time they met. Bo said the same thing to me a few times. My sister Kayla said they took forever to really get together. They had to fight hard to be with other."

"Why?"

"Bo pushed her away for a long time. From what he said, he felt like loving another woman was cheating on Hope. Anyway, eventually Bo decided he wanted to be with her and wanted to spend his life with her. But by the time he was ready to be with her; she had given up on Bo and had married another man on the rebound."

"Man that sucks."

"Yeah. Especially since that man was Bo's father."

"Wait! This woman was married to Victor?"

"Yep. Now I don't know all the details, but apparently Victor plotted to keep Bo and Carly apart, because he knew that Carly wouldn't marry him if she had any chance to be with Bo. When she found out, she left him. After that I know Bo got sick and Carly saved his life."

"How did she save his life?"

"She helped develop some kind of cure for whatever disease Bo had gotten."

"Wait a second. Is she a doctor?"

"Yeah. And a damn good one. That lady has saved the lives of half of the Brady family, myself included. Anyhow, after that, Carly filed for an annulment from Victor."

"Bet that went over well."

"You'd win that bet. Victor made their lives hell. You'll have to ask someone else about most of it. I do know that when I came back to town, Carly was in the hospital after Victor rigged an elevator to crash."

"Victor tried to kill her?"

"He almost killed her, but Bo was convinced that he was the true target."

"Victor would never kill Bo."

"Things were different back then Daniel. Personally, I think Vic was trying to kill Bo, but there was never any proof."

"So what happened after she recovered?"

"Victor faked his death and framed her for his murder."

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack. They found him hiding out in Mexico."

"Wow."

"Bo and Carly were together for almost another two years after we all got back from Mexico. They went through a lot in that time, and they loved each other very much."

"Why didn't they get married then?"

"Another long story and it's not really mine to tell. When they broke up Carly left town with her ex-boyfriend and married him so they could raise their son together. We never heard from her again. Until about three weeks ago."

"What happened three weeks ago?"

"Bo got a letter, delivered by a messenger. I don't know exactly what was in that letter but a couple of days later, a group of us who all love this little lady managed to snatch her from her husband's compound in the Middle-east."

"You kidnapped her?!"

"I look at it more like we liberated her."

"ROMAN!"

"Daniel, we did what we had to do, to help someone we all love. By the time we were able to get things set and got her out of there, her husband had beaten her to a pulp. She was unconscious. We took her to a private hospital to have her checked out. She had a massive concussion and all her ribs were broken."

"Damn!"

"Yeah. The doctor we had with us when we took her told us that she was malnourished too. I think there was more to her injuries, but Marcus was too upset to tell us. After he had determined the extent of her injuries we brought her back here and hid her."

"She was hurt so badly that she's been unconscious for more than two weeks and you removed her from a hospital and brought her to the middle of nowhere?"

"Daniel, we had no choice. She wouldn't be safe in a hospital, even under an assumed name. Her husband is a very rich and powerful man. He's also a bastard. None of us liked the idea of hiding her out here, but Bo was adamant."

"OK. Well did Bo say anything about her condition when she woke up?"

"Yeah, he did. I already told you about her eyes, but it seems that she doesn't remember some stuff."

"Well, it is possible that if her head injury was severe enough it could lead to some memory loss. Did Bo say how much time she was missing or the last thing she remembered?"

Daniel heard Roman sigh as the car slowed to a stop. After a quick glance at the clock on the dashboard confirming that they had driven for about an hour after leaving Salem city limits, Daniel opened the door and stepped out of the car. He looked around at his location. It was just after sunset and the air was frigid. Daniel couldn't really see a lot because it was almost completely dark, but he could tell there were lots of trees, and he could hear the gentle lapping of water. He didn't know if it was a stream or a pond but there was water nearby. He looked up to at a small, rustic cabin. It looked to be one room, nothing more, but there was smoke coming from the chimney and the windows were brightly lit.

"20 years."

"What?"

"You asked how much time she was missing."

"She's missing…"

"20 years."

"Damn, Roman."

"I know. Well, let's get you inside to check her out." Roman looked up at the sky for a moment as they headed towards the cabin's door. "It might snow."


	19. Chapter 19

"Hey." Bo said as he opened the door for Roman and Daniel. He stood to the side to let them into the warmth of the cabin. "Thanks for coming."

"It's no problem."

Daniel looked around the small room his eyes finally settling on a woman who was lying in the only bed, propped up on the pillows. If he wasn't head over heels in love with Chloe Lane then he would definitely make a play for this woman. Other than Chloe she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Carly, the doctor is here. Don't terrorize him."

"Very funny, Bo." Her words were betrayed by the hint of laughter in her voice as Bo chuckled.

"Daniel, meet Dr. Carly Manning. Princess, this is Dr. Daniel Jonas."

"It's nice to meet you, Doctor." Carly put her hand out to shake Daniel's.

"The pleasure's mine, Doctor." Daniel replied taking her proffered hand. "And now that the polite niceties have been observed, let's take a look at you, Dr. Manning." He turned to look around the room, wondering how he could examine her privately in this little one room cabin. It was too cold to ask Bo and Roman to wait outside.

"Bo can stay." Carly said, correctly interpreting Daniel's silence. "I trust him." 'Not to mention the fact that I slept with him when I was 17 and I just remembered, and he doesn't remember.' She thought to herself.

Bo whispered something to Roman who nodded his head in understanding and walked into the small bathroom to wait as Bo sat down at the little dining table. There was a comfortable silence in the cabin as Daniel started with the basics of an exam. He checked her pulse and her blood pressure and then listened to her heart beat and her lungs.

"Well, your pulse is good, heart sounds strong and steady, lungs are clear, but your blood pressure is a little higher than I would like it to be."

"Yeah, I think that may be as a result of waking up and not knowing where I am and then being told that I don't remember the last 20 years of my life. That could be the reason my blood pressure is high." Carly said sarcastically.

Daniel just smiled and replied, "Yeah, I guess that could do it." Carly smirked at him as Bo just grinned and shook his head. "OK, I'm going to check your ribs, let me know…"

"When it hurts." Carly cut him off.

Daniel reached over and gently placed his hands on either side of her waist and pressed lightly, slowly moving his hands up her rib cage. When his hands had moved about half way up her sides, they heard a sudden intake of breath and her emerald eyes winced in pain.

When Bo saw her discomfort he had to fight the swift, overwhelming urge to punch Daniel for touching his princess and for hurting her. But he knew Daniel was just doing his job.

"OK, well, sorry if I hurt you, but your ribs seem to be healing well."

"I'm okay."

"How does you head feel?"

"Umm, it hurts, but it's bearable."

"What kind of pain is the headache?"

"It's dull. It was really bad when I woke up but it's gotten better."

"Good, that's good. OK let's take a look at those eyes." He took out his pen light, and shining it in her eyes, he asked "Can you see that?" Carly didn't answer. Daniel stopped trying to look into her eyes and looked directly at her face only then noticing that she was no longer listening to him. She wore an expression of someone who was daydreaming.

When Daniel shined the light in her eyes, Carly's mind drifted and she was suddenly in that long dark hallway of memories again. She reached out and tried to open the closest door but it was locked. She went to the next door which was also locked. She continued down the hallway trying the doors until she found one that opened.

She looked through the door. She was in a garden. "What the hell am I wearing?" she asked herself. She looked like a giant marshmallow in a white wedding gown, her dark hair pulled up into a netted snood covered with pearls. Before her stood Bo, looking devastatingly handsome in his tuxedo. She couldn't hear what they were saying but as she watched he grabbed her and pulled her into what looked to be a very passionate kiss. Carly closed the door with a smile.

She continued down the hall until she came to a door that seemed to be screaming 'OPEN ME!' She reached for the door but before she could touch the handle it creaked open. She peeked inside. She was looking into a small room. The walls looked to be constructed from bamboo, a door fashioned from plywood, and a thatched roof. The room was lit by candle light and contained only a small table and a bed. Carly blushed at the memory as she saw herself and Bo entwined in the bed holding one another.

"What? What's wrong?" She heard Bo ask.

"I don't know. I can't describe it." Carly replied pulling herself out of his embrace and sitting up, drawing the sheet up to cover herself. Bo also sat up, his legs wrapped around her and moved closer to her as she continued speaking.

"I have never felt this way in my entire life. I mean, I knew I loved you, but I never knew how much until just now when you touched me for the very first time. I mean, really touched me. I've been waiting for this moment my entire life."

"It's only the beginning, Princess." Bo said as he stroked her cheek with the thumb of his left hand which was placed on the side of her neck and jaw, cradling her face. "Only the beginning."

"I feel like a whole new person, living a whole new life."

"That's because you are. So am I."

"I had the most beautiful wedding today."

Bo laughed and kissed her passionately. For her part Carly tuned out the end of the conversation between her past self and Bo as she watched them kiss and touch in between the words they were saying. The Bo, kissing her again, drew her down on top of him as he laid back on the bed, beginning the love making process again.

"CARLY!" She heard a man's voice booming in her ear.

"Carly!"

"What?" Carly said startled out of her reverie.

"I asked if you could see this." Daniel once again directed the pen light into her eyes.

"Yes, I can see it."

"Come on, Carly, you know the drill. Tell me what you see."

"The light is bright, it hurts to look at it directly and it is blurry."

"OK. Can you differentiate colors when you look at something?"

"Yes, but not they aren't very clear. And I can make out general shapes."

"OK. Well that's good. It looks like your optic nerve has been weakened by the head trauma. We can try some glasses. And maybe later we can determine if there are any surgical options." He looked at Bo. "This is just an educated guess on my part, I'm not an Ophthalmologist, so this is the best I can do."

"That's OK Daniel, thanks." Bo replied with a nod while Carly said nothing. Bo noticed that she was looking at him, or in his general direction, with an odd look on her face.

"I'll get a few pairs of glasses together, different strengths and all, and send them to you. You can try them and see which strength works the best. But," Daniel turned his attention back to his new patient, "if they don't work then the problem could be much more serious and you will need to see an eye specialist."

"I understand." Carly said quietly.

"Good. Well, Bo, it seems that whatever it is you've been doing is working. You, Carly, are definitely on the road to recovery. When you feel able, you should get up and start trying to get around."

"Thanks, Daniel." Bo said as he got up from his chair and shook Daniels hand.

"No problem. Glad I can help. Did you need anything else?"

"Nope, just the glasses."

"Yeah, I'll get them together and send them to you."

"That'd be great. Oh, and one more thing…"

"What's that?"

Bo took a look at Carly and pulled Daniel over to the corner next to the bathroom door.

"I need your promise that you won't tell anyone about this. Not about this place or about Carly." Bo whispered.

"You have my word. No one will hear about any of this. I told Roman that as far as I'm concerned this falls under patient-doctor confidentiality."

"Thanks. Her life depends on it."

"I understand."

Bo nodded and gently knocked on the bathroom door to let Roman know that Daniel was done with the exam.

The door opened and Roman stepped out. He nodded silently at the front door. Bo and Daniel both nodded.

"Princess, I'm going to walk them out to the car. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

The three men stepped out the front door into the frigid cold. Bo closed the door behind them.

"Well, how is she?" Roman asked.

"From what Daniel here said, she's getting better. As long as you told us everything."

"Yes, Bo. I told you everything." Daniel responded. "She is healing well from what I can see."

"Thank God." Bo voice was full of relief.

"Thank God is right. I'll be offering up an extra prayer of thanks tonight." Roman said looking at Bo, knowing how much his little brother loved the woman inside that cabin. Then he looked at his watch. "In the mean time, we should be getting back to town before either of us is missed."

"Yeah. Thanks for coming out here tonight."

"You don't have to thank me, little brother. You know I love that lady in there. She may not be blood but she is family. She is as much a sister to me as Kim and Kayla are. I would do anything in the world for her just like I would for them."

"I know, Roman, but thanks anyway."

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot…" Roman opened the car door and reached in to retrieve the letter from the family court and handed it to Bo. "Hope this is what you are waiting on."

"I'm sure it is one of them." Bo said with a big grin on his face.

"Well, doc, let's hit the road." Roman said.

"Okay. You take care of yourself Bo."

"I will, Daniel, and thanks again. You guys be careful driving back. The roads could ice over anytime."

Roman and Daniel both nodded as they got in the car.

Bo went back to the cabin's front door and stood there until Roman's car had disappeared from sight before going back in. When he went back in he was surprised to see tears running down Carly's cheeks. He quickly laid the envelope in his hand down on the table and hurried over to her.

"Princess, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you just tell me, Bo?"

"Tell you what, Carly?"

"Why didn't you tell me we are married?"


	20. Chapter 20

Hope let out a sigh of frustration and looked around the dingy hotel room she had just tossed from top to bottom. She had come here after losing Roman and Daniel at the hospital. Bo had not left behind a single scrap of paper that could tell her where he had gone or who he was hiding out with.

"How am I supposed to get Bo to come back home to me if I can't find him?" she asked herself aloud.

This was the second time she had searched this room and it was the second time she had come up empty handed. The more time that passed the angrier she got at the mystery woman that Bo was with.

"He's my husband and He belongs to me," she told herself. She completely ignored the fact that she had received the final divorce decree. She knew this was just another rough patch in their relationship. They had always managed to find their way back to one another and this time would be no different. At least that is what she kept telling herself.

"HE BELONGS TO ME!" she said forcefully. She released another sigh of frustration before walking out the door wondering if she would be able to search his office without the other officers noticing. "I'll find a way."

Bo swallowed hard. He had no clue what to say to Carly.

"Bo?"

"What makes you think that we're married?"

"Are you telling me we aren't?"

"No, I just wanna know how you came to that conclusion when just a little while ago you were asking what happened after the cave in."

"I had a flash or two."

"You remembered something?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. I don't know if they were memories or dreams or just something my mind has made up."

"Tell me what it is and I can try to tell you if it was real."

Carly sat there for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"The first one we were in a garden. You were wearing a tuxedo and I think I was wearing a wedding dress. I know I looked like a giant marshmallow."

"You looked beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off you."

Carly blushed before continuing.

"OK the other one we…" She trailed off her face blushing a deeper red.

"We…what?" Bo said trying to stifle a chuckle at Carly's embarrassment.

Carly didn't answer. She was also no longer looking in his direction. It was almost as though she was avoiding looking at him.

"Nothing. Never mind."

"What were we doing in that second memory Carly?"

"We were in bed." Carly mumbled.

"Oh." Bo said smiling. "Do you know where we were?"

"No. It wasn't a room I recognized."

"Tell me about it. The room."

"It was small. Lit by candles. Um, thatched roof and bamboo walls maybe."

"That was our hut."

"What?"

"That was where we spent our first night together."

"Our wedding night?"

"Yes, Princess, that was our wedding night."

"Bo?"

"Hmm?"

"There is something I need to tell you."

"What is it princess?"

"It's about that night that you saved me from Lawrence in that café all those years ago."

"I don't remember that night Princess. I told you that."

"I didn't remember it until just before I woke up here."

"Wanna fill me in?"

Carly worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She had no idea how she was explain this to him.

"After you got in the fight with Lawrence…"

"You took off and I kept him from going after you. Then I go blank."

"Well after you did whatever you did to keep Lawrence from coming after me, you came out of the café looking for me. To see if I was OK."

"Well good. I'm glad you were OK. So I found you?"

"Yes. I was hiding behind a truck in the ally. You were more concerned about getting me away from there than you were about my warnings of what he would do to you."

"Really?"

"Don't really me; you know that sounds just like you."

Bo laughed at how well Carly knew him even though she had amnesia.

"So what happened after I came out to check on you and ignored your warnings about Larry?"

"I told you I was going to walk to a hotel just across the border and you insisted on walking with me."

As Carly said this Bo flashed in his mind back to that night and offering his arm to the young woman as they started walking.

"Well good for me. No lady should walk alone at night. Especially one as beautiful as you."

Carly tried to ignore Bo's remark but he noticed her cheek's turned pink.

"We had to sneak across the border because by the time we had walked there Lawrence had them closed.

"So can you tell me why I have no memory of that night?"

"I'm getting to that."

"OK. I'll be quiet."

"Yes, you be quiet because this is important."

"Yes, Princess." Bo smiled at her even though he knew she couldn't see him.

"Stop smirking at me."

"I wasn't smirking at you, I just…"

"You were smirking at me, I may not be able to see it but I know that smirk was there."

"OK I was smirking at you. I can't help it. You're just so…"

"I'm so what?"

"Cute. You're so very cute. 'Specially when you're mad."

"Do you want to hear about what happened that night or not?"

"OK. So after I walked you to the border and snuck across what happened?"

"We walked about another Kilometer until we reached a little town. You went into the small inn they had and checked me in. I don't know what name you gave them because I was staying out of sight and we hadn't exchanged names."

Bo merely made an "mmmhhmmm" sound to show he was listening and to prompt her to continue.

"You walked me to my room. You were going to leave me there when I…" Carly broke off. She wasn't sure how to tell him about what happened next. How do you tell someone that they cheated on their spouse years ago with a 17 year old girl?

"You what, Carly?" Bo really wanted to know what happened that night. He had never been able to shake the feeling that it was a major event in his life and it had always bothered him that he couldn't remember. So far as Carly had explained that night step by step he had flashes of memory. He needed to know. And Carly's hesitation about telling him and the nervousness she was displaying in that moment proved to him that whatever happened that night was extremely important. He watched the love of his life as she took a deep breath before continuing her story.

"I invited you in for a drink."

"OK," Bo said laughing. He had been worried that it had been something else, that maybe they had slept together. "Having a drink isn't that big of a deal Carly."

"Well, we had more than one and what we were drinking is the reason neither of us could remember that night."

"What were we drinking?" Bo had never known any type of alcohol to have that effect on him.

"Absinthe. We drank an entire bottle."

"Absinthe is banned. How did we get a bottle?"

"It isn't banned everywhere. I already had the bottle. I was keeping it for a special occasion."

"So we got drunk?"

"Drunk is probably putting it very mildly but I'm really not sure of any other word to describe how intoxicated we both were."

"Well, good thing I never had another drop of that stuff. Not knowing what happened that night has bugged me for years."

"I'm not finished. You said you remembered the fight with Lawrence and then next thing you knew you woke up in the hotel room."

"Yeah, that's right."

"When you woke up, what were you wearing, Bo?"

Bo paused to think back. Then it dawned on him what she was trying to tell him.

"I was in the bed, and I was naked. But I was alone."

"That's because I took off when I woke up in bed with a man I didn't know."

"Carly are you saying we…" Bo couldn't quite believe what he was hearing but at the same time he flashed back to that night and to laying her back on the bed as he removed her clothes before thoroughly exploring her beautiful body.

"Yes, Bo. We slept together that night," came her quiet, almost fearful reply.

Bo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he looked at Carly who had her face turned away from him and towards the fire. But even with her face turned away from him he could tell that Carly was silently crying. During this conversation he had been sitting in the chair next to the bed and without thinking about it he moved from the chair to sit next to her on the bed. He gently reached around, and placing his hand under her chin he turned her head to face him. Once he saw her cheeks stained with tears and her captivating green eyes still brimming with unshed tears he couldn't stop himself from gently putting his arms around her and holding her as she cried.

"It's OK, Princess. It really is."

"How can it be OK, Bo?" Carly's voice was muffled as she spoke, her face buried in his chest. "We slept together while your wife was waiting for you. And…" She trailed off not knowing if she had ever told him about that baby she had lost or how to tell him that that child could have been his.

"And what, Princess?" Bo asked gently. He knew that even though she was upset about the fact that she had slept with him when he was married to Hope, it wasn't what was really bothering her. "Tell me why you are so upset."

Carly cried harder as he gently stroked her hair. It was then he barely heard her whisper into his chest between sobs. "What if I got pregnant that night? What if the baby I lost was yours?"

Bo hadn't even thought about the possibility that Nicholas could be his even after hearing Carly tell him that they had made love all those years ago or after his flashes of that night that his soul had found it's other half. He had been no more able to resist her that night than he had been when she first came to town after Hope's 'death'.

"Carly there is something I need to tell you." He waited for a moment until her sobs subsided and she managed to catch her breath.

"What?" She asked with a sniffle. She stayed wrapped in Bo's arms. She felt comfortable and safe in his arms. She had that night too. But she felt more than comfort and safety when his arms had wrapped around her. She felt complete and she remembered that when Bo was making love to her that night, when they were both so young and drunk, that for the first time in her life she felt whole.

"It's about the baby you lost."

"I told you about him, didn't I?"

"Yes, Princess, you did. But there is something you don't know. Well it is something you don't remember."

"What?" Carly pulled away from him slightly, wincing a little at the movement but ignoring the pain, and looked at the blurry form of the man sitting next to her.

"Carly, your son, maybe our son, didn't die when he was born."

"What? Bo what are you talking about? The doctor said…"

"The doctor lied to you, Princess." Bo said cutting her off.

"Why? Why would he do that? What happened to my baby?"

"I don't know why he did it. I don't know if he was bribed, blackmailed, or threatened, but I do know he did it. He confessed on videotape before disappearing."

"What did he do with my baby?" Her voice was growing a bit hysterical and panicked.

"The baby was fine, Carly. A healthy little boy. Vivian kept him to raise as her own."

"Vivian? No, she's my friend. She helped me. She…"

"She was the one who told you who Larry really was. She was the one that brought you that doctor. She wasn't and isn't your friend, Princess. She didn't think you were good enough for Larry much less good enough to be mother to his child. She stole your baby from you."

"How…how could…how could someone be so cruel?" Carly stuttered.

"I don't know, Princess, I don't know."

"So my son, he's alive?"

"Yes. And he's fine. He's grown up now. He and Shawn-Douglas."

Carly's head was swimming and pounding. In the span of a few hours she had woken up in a strange place, missing 20 years of her life then remembered what was apparently her wedding and wedding night to Bo, then discovered that her friend and her doctor had stolen her baby and faked his death. On top of that telling Bo that he may be the father of her child. It was too much for her to take in. She looked at Bo, even though she could only look at his general shape and promptly passed out.


	21. Chapter 21

Bo gently laid Carly back in the bed and tucked the blankets around her. It had given him a start when she had passed out. But after thinking about it he was surprised that she hadn't passed out before that. He could see that the influx of so much information and the emotions tied with the things she remembered and what he had told her was overwhelming. He knew all he could do was to make her comfortable, so that's what he did. He bent over and brushed his lips against her forehead then turned and walked over to the door. Looking out the window he saw that the skies had finally given way and it had started snowing. Bo shook his head thinking that the last time he had seen it snow like this had been 20 years before when a blizzard had hit Salem and the surrounding areas in mid-March. He smiled to himself thinking of the days that he and Carly has spent snowed in at the very same cabin they were in now. Bo stood for a while just watching it snow thinking about his past times with Carly, included the recent flashes of that one night. A night where they had no names, a night where their souls merged, a night where they possibly created a child. Bo was brought out of his thoughts and memories by the buzzing of his cell phone. Bo looked at the caller ID before answering in a low voice.

"Hey, Kiddo."

"Hey, Dad." Shawn paused then asked his father what he wanted to know. "How's Carly?"

Bo realized he had forgotten to call Shawn when Carly woke up.

"She woke up, Shawn."

"That's great, Dad!"

"Yeah. I'm sorry I forgot to call you."

"It's OK, dad. I'm sure you were busy with Carly. How is she?" Bo was silent. "Dad?"

"There are some issues."

"Issues? What does that mean, Dad?"

"She doesn't remember some stuff."

"OK. I've heard that can happen with head injuries sometimes."

"Not like this, Shawn."

"What do you mean?"

"Shawn, she doesn't remember the last 19 years of her life."

"What?" Shawn said in shock.

"Yeah. The last thing she really remembers is being trapped under Larry's villa all those years ago. I don't know if you remember that, you were little."

"I kind of remember that. When you guys came back you were mad at her for a long time, right?"

"Yeah. Well, Kind of. I was madder at myself than her. Never mind that. Are you still in Sydney?"

"Nope, we just docked in LA."

"You gonna go see your Aunt Kim?"

"Well, we will see her, but I thought…"

"You thought what, son?" Bo knew what Shawn wanted to say.

"Well, now that Carly is awake, I thought I could fly back to Salem and see her."

"Shawn…"

"Just hear me out, dad."

"OK."

"Carly doesn't remember things right?"

"Right…"

"Well, do you remember when we thought she had died and she didn't remember us?"

"Of course, I remember that."

"What brought her memory back?"

"Seeing Nikki."

"Exactly. So maybe seeing me might help. I could email Nicholas and have him meet me there. Maybe seeing him will help her. I know seeing her will help him."

"OK. Let's say, for the sake of argument, seeing you and Nicholas brings back her memory."

"Yeah."

"How do we keep her hidden from Lawrence if you and Nicholas are both flying to Salem to see her? We can't let him know where she is and Nicholas flying to Salem after all these years is bound to raise some suspicions on Larry's part."

"Nicholas barely sees or talks to his father."

"That doesn't mean Larry doesn't keep tabs on him. My guess is that Larry watches every move Nicholas makes, even if Nicholas doesn't know it. And Nikki coming to Salem out of the blue is definitely going to raise a red flag."

"I want to see her, dad. And Nicholas deserves to know she's alive, especially now that she's awake."

"I know, son. I know. OK I have an idea."

"What?"

"Well, it would look suspicious for you to fly from LA for no reason, leaving the boat and your wife and daughter behind."

"Suspicious to who, dad? You're starting to sound paranoid."

"Son, you can bet that Larry has someone looking around Salem to see if we took Carly. He may not think we have the brains to pull it off but you can bet he will still look."

"I didn't think about that."

"And, Shawn…"

"Yeah, dad?"

"Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean someone's not out to get you."

"OK, dad." Shawn said as he laughed at his father. "So what was your idea?"

"You can fly in, but you need to bring Belle and Claire with you. That way, if anyone is snooping, you can make it known that you are visiting with the family and you didn't want to go through the hassle of sailing the boat up and down all the rivers it would take to sail here."

"OK. And once I get to Salem?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"And Nicholas?"

"Let me think about that. I'll try to figure out how we can get him to Salem without Larry getting suspicious."

"Alright. But don't take too long, dad. He deserves to know about her."

"I know he does." Bo said quietly, thinking to himself that he also needed to figure out a way of getting a DNA sample from Nicholas too. He needed to know if Nikki was his son.

"Dad?"

"What? I'm sorry, I kinda zoned out there for a second."

"I said, it's getting late and I need to go."

"Oh, OK. Give the girls a kiss from me. And make sure you visit with your Aunt Kim before coming to Salem."

"I will, on both. And give Carly a kiss for me. Tell her I…"

"Shawn?"

"Tell her I love her."

"I will, son. I will. Goodnight."

"Night, dad."

Bo looked back over at Carly, who was sleeping peacefully. He couldn't imagine how terrifying and surreal it must be to wake up missing nearly 20 years of your life. He tugged on the doorknob; testing to make sure it was securely locked before turning and walking over to the fireplace and adding wood to burn through the night. He then made himself pallet on the floor at the foot of the bed, using all the cushions for the two armchairs near the fire and all the blankets he could find that were not currently in use by Carly.

He walked back over to her side and looked down at her for just a moment before once again bending down to brush his lips across her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Princess." He murmured. He walked over to the table and blew out the oil lamp before settling himself down on his makeshift bed for the night with prayers that he would be able to help Carly through this amnesia and hoping he could come up with a plausible story about how she received her injuries, knowing that she would eventually ask.

Carly opened her eyes and sighed seeing the hallway stretching out before her again. She didn't know how many more surprises she could take. She reached for the closest door, swinging it open with the slightest touch. She looked in to see herself and Bo once again but they were in a tunnel. They had to still be under Lawrence's villa because she was still wearing that formal blue sequined gown and he looked as though he were wearing the shirt and pants from a tux.

"Dammit, How long are you gonna go on hating me?" Past-Carly said loudly grabbing Bo's arm and turning him towards her.

At that moment Carly saw a waterfall of dirt and debris start falling in on her past self, who screamed, and then saw Bo throw himself over her in order to shield her from the falling rubble.

"You OK?" he asked looking down at her and brushing the soil from her. "Huh? You alright?" He brushed her hair back to look at her. "You alright?" His hand came to rest on the side of her neck.

"You don't hate me." She said softly looking at him.

"Never said I hated you." He replied quietly pulling away from her and turning to look down the tunnel to avoid her eyes.

"Yeah, but you've been acting that way. Until just then when you thought I might be hurt, then for just a second, you let all that anger go." She couldn't hide the slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she spoke.

"That didn't mean anything." Bo kept looking from her face to the ground. He didn't want to look at her, because he was angry, but he couldn't help himself.

"It means that you care. At least a little."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He looked at her. "All I know is that you used me. You lied to me." He turned away again.

"Look, it's over, that's all over. There are no lies or secrets between us." Her voice held a slight note of fear, panic and pleading that Bo would never forgive her. She continued before he could say anything, it was either now or never. "I wanna tell you how I feel about you."

"This is not the time, not the place for that." Bo looked slightly uncomfortable at the thought of her revealing her feelings.

"Well this might be our only time. So please just listen to me." She wasn't going to let him stop her from saying what she was going to say. "We might die down here. And I'm not afraid of that. I just don't wanna do it without telling you how much I wanted you in my life. From the very beginning. More than any man that I have ever known."

"Yeah." Bo nodded his head as he looked at her to respond. "We coulda had something. Maybe we coulda had something. But you blew it." He turned away again.

"No, see, if you had thought like that then you must have cared."

"Would you leave me…" Bo began before Carly cut him off.

"And no matter how much you deny it, I think you still do."

"Carly, leave me alone. Like I said, this isn't the time." Bo wasn't looking at her as he said this. "Look you said we might die here." He looked up at her as he said this.

"That's right, so don't leave yourself with any regrets, alright. From now on nothing but the truth."

Bo grabbed her upper arms. "You want the truth?"

"Yes I want the truth!"

"I'll give you the truth. I don't wanna die. And I sure as hell don't wanna die without doing this…"

Bo grabbed her and pulled her towards him. He flipped her to where she was nearly sitting in his lap as he planted his lips on hers forcefully, no longer able to fight his urge to kiss her.

Carly closed the door with a smirk. Knowing that even though he had been angry at her for lying to him, Bo had still wanted her. She continued down the hallway for a moment before stopping at another door. She reached for it, but it opened before she could touch the handle and she looked in.

She was once again wearing a formal dress. This one was strapless and sleeveless, emerald green with black trim. Her long chestnut tresses falling down in curls around her shoulders. She was in an elevator. Suddenly the elevator lurched to a stop.

"What on earth is going on?" she muttered to herself as she tried to push the button again.

"YOU ASKED FOR IT!" Bo voice called down the elevator shaft.

"Bo? Did you stop this elevator?" She called back.

"You bet I did. What are you doing here? Why didn't you wait for the guy to pick you up at seven o'clock?"

"Cause I couldn't wait."

"Well, now you're gonna have to wait. You could have been very comfortable in a stretch limousine, now you're gonna be stuck in an elevator. And you thought you were being so clever."

"Oh you have to admit I was." Carly said with a laugh.

"Oh, oh, oh not clever enough for me, baby."

She laughed again. "So what are you gonna do? You gonna leave me here or what?"

"Well, I just might do that. No, I guess, I'll just let you go back down to lobby and wait."

"Hey, I've got a great idea. Since I'm here, why don't you just let me come up and see you."

"Well just because you're early, I'm supposed to let you spoil all my plans, here."

"Oh, fine then. Send me back down to lobby, but you're making a big mistake, cause I might not be here when you're ready."

"Oh, Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Where you gonna go?"

"I don't know, maybe some handsome stranger will whisk me off somewhere."

"Yeah, yeah, right…right. He won't be able to give you as good a night as I can give you, that's for sure."

Carly laughed. "OK. You've got a point."

"Yeah, ah, yea…alright." Bo stuttered. "So I'm sending you back down, because the quicker you go, the quicker I can get everything ready here."

"Bo, wait!"

"What?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Princess. Next floor, the lobby."

The elevator cranked back to life and Carly watched from her doorway as the elevator plunged into darkness as she heard herself scream along with her past-self, the sounds merging.


	22. Chapter 22

Bo bolted upright as he was woken by Carly's scream. Scrambling to his feet, he saw her clutching the blankets in terror, still in the throes of whatever nightmare she was having. Bo stumbled over to the bed to wake her and calm her down at the same time.

"Carly," he said as he held her hands to keep her from flailing to much. He didn't want her to re-injure her ribs. "Carly wake up."

Carly continued to scream as her eyes flew open, darting around.

"Carly, it's OK. You're OK. You're safe." Bo murmured in her ear, over and over until she began to calm. He could feel her trembling. He let go of her hands and slipped his arms carefully around her, murmuring soothing words in her ear until she stopped shaking. He pulled back slightly to look into her face. She was extremely pale.

"Was it a bad dream? Do you wanna talk about it?"

Carly took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before speaking.

"I think it was another memory."

"Tell me what you remember."

"I was in an elevator." She heard and felt a sharp intake of breath from Bo. His arms tightened around her slightly, but still careful of her healing ribs.

"You know what I remembered don't you?" Carly asked, her voice laced with the remnants of fear from that memory.

"I think I do, but I want you to tell me what you remembered."

"OK," Carly said slowly. "I was in an elevator. It was stopped and you were talking to me from a floor above me. Then you said you would send me back down to a lobby to wait until you were ready. When the elevator started up again it fell. Did the cable snap?"

Bo knew he couldn't tell her that Victor had rigged that elevator. At this moment he was glad she couldn't see his face, maybe she wouldn't know he wasn't telling her everything.

"Yes, princess. The cable snapped."

Carly heard the fear in his voice as he uttered those few words and once again felt his arms tighten around her a little more.

"Tell me what happened, Bo." Carly's vice was quiet, but Bo knew she was leaving no room for argument or stalling.

"I had set up a romantic night for us, at the Salem Inn. I was going to send a limo to pick you up, but you found out where I was bringing you and you showed up early. I had rented the penthouse suite and you talked the manager into giving you the elevator key."

Carly's face had a small smirk on it as Bo spoke.

I stopped the elevator just below the penthouse door. We talked a few minutes before I turned it back on to send you down to the lobby." Bo's voice had taken on a far away quality as he remembered and explained one of the scariest nights of his life. "Then I heard the scrapping of the elevator and you screaming. I was terrified."

"So was I. How far did the elevator fall?

"10 Floors. I managed to pry open the doors from the penthouse and climb down."

"How badly was I injured?"

"You were critical. The fall broke one of your ribs. The rib then punctured the sac around your heart."

Carly shuddered but Bo continued.

"Marcus and Dr. Horton operated on you to fix it and stop the internal bleeding. Your heart stopped during the surgery. I felt it."

"What?"

"I felt it when your Heart stopped. I knew something had gone wrong. Isabella had to physically hold onto me to keep me out of the operating room. I felt it when they got your heart started again too. I could feel you."

"Really?" Carly choked out as a tear fell from her sparkling green eyes.

"Really." Bo gently wiped the tear away and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"I love you, Bo."

"I love you too, princess."

"What time is it?"

Bo looked at his watch. "A quarter after 5 am. Why?"

"I don't know. I have no concept of time as it is, but with my eyes like this it seems worse. I'm not sure if it's morning or night. It's kind of throwing me off."

"Well, hopefully, when we get the glasses from Daniel, they will help. Are you tired?"

"Not really. I feel more drained than tired. And sore. Are my injuries from the elevator falling?" She didn't see how they could be. Questions were starting to pop up in her mind.

"No, princess. The elevator accident was years ago. You spent about 6 weeks or so in the hospital after that."

"Then how did I get these injuries?"

Bo cringed. He had no idea what he was going to tell her. He knew she would eventually ask but he hadn't yet come up with an explanation that would be plausible enough to prevent more questions. Marlena had cautioned him against telling her about the apparent abuse she had suffered at the hands of Lawrence Alamain. 'Carly should really remember on her own, and not have the information presented to her. Her brain is protecting her from the reality of what her life was. It's a coping mechanism. She will remember when she is ready, and telling her about it before then could cause much more psychological damage."

"Bo? How did I get these injuries? And what do my injuries have to do with Lawrence?"

"Why do you think they have anything to do with Lawrence?"

"You said I was here and not in the hospital because you were hiding me from him."

"Oh, yeah."

"Did he do this to me?"

"No, Carly you were in a car accident." Bo said, having no idea where the words that had just left his mouth had come from.

"Then why are you hiding me from Lawrence?"

Flying by the seat of his pants, Bo came up with more of a story to feed Carly until her memories could come back on their own.

"I only said that because you only remembered the villa. You've had a few more memories come back since then so I don't have to use Larry as a reason."

Carly said nothing as she contemplated this statement. She couldn't be angry at Bo, because she had lied to him, to manipulate hi to that villa.

"Carly?" Bo asked breaking her from her thoughts.

"If Lawrence isn't the reason you hid me out here, then what is?"

"Someone is after you, Carly. I hid you here because it is a place only we know about. Too keep you safe."

"Who?"

"What?"

"Who's after me?"

"I don't know, princess. There have been serious threats and they think your car was tampered with. That's why I hid you out here. Now enough questions. I am going to scare up some breakfast. If you feel up to getting up and around after breakfast, maybe we can go for a walk."

With that Bo kissed the top of her head and got off the bed to find something they could eat for breakfast.


End file.
